Eleventh Dream Day
Zeroes And Ones
Release Date: Apr 25, 2006
Genre(s): Indie, Rock
Record label: Thrill Jockey
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Album Review: Zeroes And Ones by Eleventh Dream Day
Fantastic, Based on 2 Critics
Based on rating 9/10
In a better world, Eleventh Dream Day would be universally acknowledged as indie rock elder statesmen and one of America's great post-punk guitar bands. They built their reputation on blistering live shows and released a string of albums that rocked as hard as anyone in the late '80s and early '90s. Personnel departures and the proverbial music biz/major-label problems derailed their momentum to the point that EDD became a part-time concern in the mid-'90s, but they never threw in the towel completely and continued to turn out remarkably consistent albums even as the pace slowed.
Opinion: Very Good
Here’s a record that deserves a warm welcome. Eleventh Dream Day could easily be afforded the same esteem reserved for Sonic Youth, the Replacements, Dinosaur, Jr. and other bands that served as precursors of the alternative-rock boom. The band’s life story even has some of the common '90s alt-rock tropes: a critically-lauded but difficult-to-find debut album, a move from Kentucky to Chicago, a live album at Lounge Ax, a not-so-successful stint on a major label, dogged perseverance, despite it all, and a back catalog that’s excellent and sorely underappreciated.