Apartment Life

In 1994, Andy Chase and Dominique Durand met through an advertisement to record music together. Following the completion of several songs, the pair invited Adam Schlesinger to join them and form Ivy. Together they wrote and produced "Get Enough" (1994), which was well received by the public,[1][2][3] and released their debut extended play in the same year, titled Lately.[4][5] While signed to Seed Records, they recorded Realistic, which was distributed in the United States in 1995.[6] Shortly after its release, the label dropped Ivy, prompting Schlesinger to claim that "Seed was kind of the worst of both worlds because it didn't really have any credibility and it didn't really have any money".[7] Because of Schlesinger's involvement as a member of Fountains of Wayne, he had established a strong business relationship with Atlantic Records and would eventually sign with them, who provided funding for Ivy to record a second studio album.[7]

Apartment Life was released on October 6, 1997, by Atlantic Records.[8] While promoting Apartment Life across the United States, Ivy was dropped from Atlantic Records.[9] Following their departure from the label in 1998, Ivy signed to 550 Music who reissued the album in the United States with a new cover art and digitally remastered tracks. Simultaneously, both Schlesinger and Chase worked on opening up a new recording studio in New York City, Stratosphere Studios, in June 1999.[10][11] During this time, a deluxe edition was distributed in Japan by Epic Records, featuring two previously unreleased tracks: "Sleeping Late" and "Sweet Mary".[12]

According to music critics, Apartment Life served as a musical departure and improvement from the material found on their previous efforts. CMJ New Music Monthly's Kurt B. Reighley described the album as a collection as an improvement from the "invigorating pop" that appeared on Realistic. He also noted the wide variety of sounds present in the production, consisting of brass, keyboards, and string instruments.[13] Additionally, the album contains influence from dance-rock, jazz, and reggae music.[14]

The album opens with "The Best Thing", a pop song with a "chorus that is to swoon and croon for".[8][15] It features "rippling atmospherics", a "punk-ish guitar", and similar qualities to the music of American band Pixies.[14] Another pop track, the production of "I've Got a Feeling" is accompanied by a horn section influenced by 1960s-style harmonies. Durand's vocals in the track are light and airy, and according to Billboard's Larry Flick, they do not include any "unnecessary posturing or vocal noodling".[16] In addition to Chase and Schlesinger, Lloyd Cole and Peter Nashel received credits as co-writers on the track.[17] Noting the use of "60s-ish horns", Jack Rabid from AllMusic described the genre of "This Is the Day", the album's third track, as "la-la-la pop personified".[8] Reighley joked that the Smiths must have "overlooked" the song and its "punchy melody".[13] "Never Do That Again" and "I Get the Message" are the fourth and fifth tracks, respectively, and they both contain "emotional rubble" that adds to the album's "casual sophisticat[ion]".[18] "Baker", written solely by Chase and Schlesinger, features the use of a trumpet played by Chris Botti, drums by Stanley Demeski, and violin by Ralph Farris and Jacqui Carrasco.[17]

Describing single "You Don't Know Anything", Rabid noted that the use of guitars on the production make the song sound "mean". He later would refer to it as a modern version of a My Bloody Valentine song.[8] "Ba Ba Ba" and "Get Out of the City" are the album's eighth and ninth tracks, respectively, and both include drums played by Demeski.[17] "These Are the Things About You" contains "rhythmic activity" and makes use of several guitars in the instrumentation.[13] The album's 11th track, "Quick, Painless and Easy", features Durand singing with deeper vocals that display her French accent.[14] "Back in Our Town" was co-written by the guitarist of the Smashing Pumpkins, James Iha.[17] Described as "gently haunting" by AllMusic's Rabid,[8] it serves as the closer to Apartment Life, except on the Japanese edition where bonus tracks "Sleeping Late" and "Sweet Mary" follow.[12]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[8]
The A.V. Club	Mixed[36]
CMJ New Music Monthly	Favorable[13]
Rolling Stone	[18]
Trouser Press	Favorable[1]

Reception towards Apartment Life was highly positive; AllMusic's Rabid awarded the album 4.5 out of 5 stars and called it an "exquisite work". He declared that Apartment Life is a "winsome, pleasant, accomplished, convivial pop LP" that showcases Durand's talent as the lead singer. Labeling "The Best Thing", "This Is the Day", and "You Don't Know Anything" as the album's true highlights, he claimed that "it's a wonder that Ivy isn't massive".[8] Vickie Gilmer and Ira Robbins, writers for Trouser Press, found Apartment Life to have more "confidence and skill" than Realistic and claimed that as a whole, the album is "just about perfect in its chosen realm".[1] CMJ New Music Monthly's Reighley felt that the album displayed Ivy's strengths as a band, such as Durand's vocals and the songwriting. He concluded: "Maintaining these central points of focus permits the additional color and activity of Apartment Life to fill out Ivy's dynamic to splendid and harmonious effect".[13] Robbins, a columnist for Rolling Stone, wrote a separate album review where he highlighted Durand's distinctive French accent and described it as perfect for "breezy pop music". Calling the songs "smartly modeled" and "top-shelf" in quality, she claimed that "Ivy put[s] the fizz in cocktail culture".[18] Stephen Thompson from The A.V. Club claimed that the entirety of Apartment Life fails to match the quality and strength of its opening track, "The Best Thing". However, he also stated that the entire album "never slips too far" behind due to the end product including "impeccably tasteful performances".[36]

In a column where several music critics commended their personal favorite albums, Craig Rosen from Billboard listed Apartment Life as the seventh best album released in 1997, tied with Green Day's Nimrod.[37] On CMJ New Music Monthly, a print magazine that ranks the most popular albums and songs as played by college radio programmers, the album was constantly ranked on their various radio airplay charts, including "Top Alternative Radio Airplay" and "Core Radio".[38][39]

All songs written by Ivy, except "You Don't Know Anything" which features additional lyrics by Chris Collingwood, and "Back in Our Town" with additional lyrics by James Iha.[17]

Management

• Recorded at The Place, New York City; Duotone Studios, New York City; and Compositions, New York City

Personnel

Credits and personnel adapted from the liner notes of Apartment Life.[17]

• Apartment Life at Discogs (list of releases)