When My Heart Felt Volcanic is the debut full-length album by American indie pop group the Aces. It has received positive reviews from critics.
Reception
When My Heart Felt Volcanic received positive reviews from critics noted at review aggregator Metacritic.It has a weighted average score of 75 out of 100, based on four reviews.Johnny Rogerson of Clash Magazine gave the album a 7 out of 10, stating that they have "escape[d] the indie clichés attached to pop bands using guitars, and have created a fully-fledged pop scorcher".In The Line of Best Fit, Pip Williams rated this release a 6 out of 10, calling it a "breezy, fun debut", but criticizing the band for not being more experimental with their sound.Writing for NME, Hannah Mylrea calls this album "sugar with substance" and rates it 4 out of 5 stars, writing that "Fake Nice" "could be one of the best pop songs of the year".NPR's Lyndsey McKenna writes in First Listen that the band has a similar sound to contemporary acts such as The 1975, Haim, and Paramore, but "here's a timelessness to the construction" of this album that makes it "a refined mission statement from a band with history" that is the kind of pop music "that's fit to be blasted from car stereos and sung along to at high volumes".
Track listing
Bonus track on vinyl edition
1) "Volcanic Love" (Daniel Gibson, Katie Henderson, Simon Oscroft, McKenna Petty, Alisa Ramirez, and Cristal Ramirez) – 3:25
2) "Stuck" (Gibson, Henderson, Oscroft, Petty, A. Ramirez, and C. Ramirez) – 4:05
3) "Fake Nice" (Henderson, Petty, A. Ramirez, C. Ramirez, and Wendy Wang) – 3:23
4) "Lovin’ Is Bible" (Gibson, Henderson, Oscroft, Petty, A. Ramirez, and C. Ramirez) – 3:20
5) "Just Like That" (Henderson, Petty, A. Ramirez, C. Ramirez, and Butch Walker) – 3:47
6) "Last One" (Frederik Berger, Henderson, Elof Loelv, Petty, A. Ramirez, and C. Ramirez) – 3:46
7) "Strong Enough" (Gibson, Henderson, Oscroft, Petty, A. Ramirez, and C. Ramirez) – 3:47
8) "Holiday" (Mike Green, Henderson, Petty, A. Ramirez, and C. Ramirez) – 3:49
9) "Stay" (Gibson, Henderson, Oscroft, Petty, A. Ramirez, and C. Ramirez) – 3:25
10) "Bad Love" (Henderson, Petty, A. Ramirez, C. Ramirez, and Greg Wells) – 3:05
11) "Put It on the Line" (Gibson, Henderson, Oscroft, Petty, A. Ramirez, and C. Ramirez) – 3:58
12) "Hurricane" (Josh Gudwin, Henderson, Petty, A. Ramirez, and C. Ramirez) – 3:37
13) "Waiting for You" (Henderson, Daniel Nigro, Petty, A. Ramirez, and C. Ramirez) – 4:17
1) "Friends" (Demo) – 3:28
Personnel
The Aces
Additional personnel
Katie Henderson – lead guitar, vocals, production on "Hurricane"
McKenna Petty – bass guitar, vocals, production on "Hurricane"
Alisa Ramirez – drums, vocals, production on "Hurricane"
Cristal Ramirez – lead vocals, rhythm guitar, production on "Hurricane"
Zoux Bluestein – instrumentation, engineering
Mike Crossey – mixing engineering
Chris Gehringer – mastering
Jonathan Gilmore – engineering assistance, mixing assistance
Mike Green – engineering, production on "Holiday"
Josh Gudwin – engineering, vocal production
Matt Jacobson – engineering assistance, vocal production
Ian MacGregor – engineering
Dan Nigro – instrumentation, engineering, production on "Waiting for You"
Simon Oscroft – engineering, production on "Volcanic Love", "Stuck", "Lovin' Is Bible", "Last One", "Strong Enough", "Stay", and "Put It on the Line"
Will Quinnell – mastering
Eric Stenman – mixing, mixing engineering
Derrick Stockwell – engineering assistance, vocal production
Todd Stopera – engineering
Butch Walker – engineering, production on "Just Like That"
Wendy Wang – instrumentation, engineering, production on "Fake Nice"
Greg Wells – mixing engineering, production on "Bad Love"
