Lift Your Skinny Fists like Antennas to Heaven

Template:Short description Template:Good article Template:Use Canadian English Template:Use dmy dates {{safesubst:#invoke:Unsubst-infobox||$params=italic_title,name,type,longtype,artist,cover,border,alt,caption,released,recorded,venue,studio,genre,length,language,label,director,producer,compiler,chronology,prev_title,prev_year,year,next_title,next_year,misc|$extra=italic_title,longtype,border,caption,language,director,compiler,chronology,year,misc|$aliases=italic title>italic_title,Italic title>italic_title,Name>name,Type>type,image>cover,Cover>cover,Border>border,Alt>alt,Caption>caption,Longtype>longtype,Artist>artist,Released>released,Recorded>recorded,Venue>venue,Studio>studio,Genre>genre,Length>length,Language>language,Label>label,Director>director,Producer>producer,Compiler>compiler,Chronology>chronology,Misc>misc|$flags=override|$B={{#ifeq:{{#invoke:Is infobox in lead|main|[Ii]nfobox [Aa]lbum}}|true|{{#if:Template:Has short description | |{{#if: Template:Start date | Template:Short description}}}}}}{{#invoke:Infobox|infobox}}Template:Template otherTemplate:Category handlerTemplate:Main other{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=Template:Main other|preview=Page using Template:Infobox album with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y|italic_title |type |name |image |cover |border |alt |caption |longtype |artist |released |recorded |venue |studio |genre |length |language |label |director |producer |compiler |prev_title|prev_year|next_title|next_year|chronology|year|misc}}{{#if:{{#invoke:String|match|error_category=Music infoboxes with Module:String errors|A|1=Slow Riot for New Zerø Kanada1999Yanqui U.X.O.2002studioLift Your Skinny Fists like Antennas to HeavenLift Your Skinny Fists like Antennas to Heaven original cover.pngTwo human hands making gestures in front of exploding red lights on a brown background.Godspeed You! Black EmperorTemplate:Start dateFebruary 2000Chemical Sound, Toronto, OntarioPost-rockTemplate:DurationTemplate:FlatlistDaryl Smithx|2=</?t[drh][ >]|nomatch=}}|Template:Main other}}Template:Main other}} Lift Your Skinny Fists like Antennas to HeavenTemplate:Efn is the second studio album by Canadian post-rock band Godspeed You! Black Emperor, released as a double album on 9 October 2000 on vinyl by Constellation and on CD by Kranky. The album consists of four 20-minute songs divided into subsections, usually consisting of instrumental crescendos, with occasional use of field recordings. Though the band's output is politically-motivated, the overall tone is more hopeful than their prior work. Recording was conducted in February 2000 in Chemical Sound Studios, Toronto, and was derived from the band's live performances and guitarist Efrim Menuck's experience in film-making studies.

Packaging contains liner notes dedicating the album to prisoners, a diagram illustrating each of the subsection's sound, and William Schaff's artwork from the zine Notes to a Friend; Silently Listening No. 2. The album has received critical acclaim, with many critics finding the composition to be beautiful and sprawling, though comparisons to the band's prior discography were mixed. It has been listed on multiple year-end and decade-end lists.

Background and composition

Godspeed You! Black Emperor is a Montreal band formed in 1994;<ref name="popularmusic">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="wire" /> the band hails from the Canadian post-rock scene.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> The band's label Constellation plays a central role,Template:Sfn although both founder Ian Ilavsky and Godspeed You! Black Emperor guitarist Efrim Menuck have stated they see their music as more punk rock than post-rock.Template:Sfn Godspeed You! Black Emperor's politically motivated music output is primarily instrumental, being framed with field recordings and tape manipulation.<ref name=popularmusic/> According to The A.V. ClubTemplate:'s Andrew Paul, their early work leading up to Lift Your Skinny Fists like Antennas to Heaven "[came] across like an attempt to blend divinity and human folly atop the same sonic canvas," with the music conveying humanity's hopelessness and self-destruction.<ref name="avcpr"/>

Godspeed You! Black Emperor released three records in the 1990s: the self-released cassette All Lights Fucked on the Hairy Amp Drooling (1994), the studio album F♯ A♯ ∞ (1997), and the EP Slow Riot for New Zero Kanada (1999).<ref name=popularmusic/><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The band also regularly staged three-hour long live performances,Template:Sfn including in major cities such as London, San Francisco, and New York City.Template:Sfn During this time, they started receiving attention beyond the underground scene, with much critical analysis of their work.<ref name=avcpr/> The band itself has typically avoided interviews and promotional material,Template:Sfn citing concerns of misrepresentation of their work in the media and bafflement at their increased popularity.<ref name=guardian/><ref name=wire>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Two notable exceptions include their interviews for The Wire and NME, with the latter's being a cover interview despite the cover not featuring a picture of the band.Template:Sfn

Lift Your Skinny Fists like Antennas to Heaven is a post-rock album consisting of four 20-minute tracks: "Storm", "Static", "Sleep", and "Antennas to Heaven", each of which are divided into subsections.<ref name="avcpr" /> Godspeed You! Black Emperor recorded the album in Chemical Sound Studios, Toronto, in nine days in February 2000 with Daryl Smith,Template:Sfn using material drawn from the band's then-recent live performances.Template:Sfn The instrumentation involved string instruments, guitars, pianos, and static.<ref name=avclub-review/> Most of the album is instrumental, often consisting of cresendoes from "slow and vaporous" music to "towering waves of sound" before dissipating.<ref name=stereogum/> An exception is the use of field recordings, including a loudspeaker announcement from ARCO, a preacher's religious rant, an old man musing about Coney Island, and a folk song performed by band member Mike Moya.<ref name=popmatters/> According to Menuck, the composition of the tracks drew upon his filmmaking studies, with him comparing the combining of musical pieces and field recordings to film editing.Template:Sfn Compared to previous projects by Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Lift Your Skinny Fists like Antennas to Heaven is more progressive and hopeful.<ref name=pitchfork.com/><ref name=avcpr/> In a 2012 interview from the Guardian, the band collectively stated their intent from the beginning was to create "heavy music, joyously" that acknowledged yet dismissed the bleakness of contemporary times, contrary to popular belief.<ref>Template:Cite interview</ref> Jeanette Leech argued Lift Your Skinny Fists like Antennas to Heaven represented this ideal in Fearless: the Making of Post-Rock.Template:Sfn

Release and packaging

Lift Your Skinny Fists like Antennas to Heaven was released as a double album on 9 October 2000 by Constellation in vinyl format<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and on 23 October 2000 by American record label Kranky in CD format.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The typewritten liner notes jokingly refer to the band as "god's [sic] pee"; refer to the songs as "more awkward pirouettes in the general direction of hope [and] joy" and "a tentative stagger towards the pale [and] holy fading light"; and dedicate the album to prisoners, alongside "quiet refusals, loud refusals, and sad refusals."<ref name=popmatters/><ref name=exclaim>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The inner panels of the vinyl edition and a paper insert in the CD edition uses a diagram drawn by Menuck to illustrate the album's composition and sound.<ref name=exclaim/><ref name="avcpr"/> The diagram denotes the time length and name of each subsection,<ref name=popmatters/> and uses gradients to represent their intensity.Template:Sfn

The album's packaging contains artwork by William Schaff from a zine titled Notes to a Friend; Silently Listening No. 2, which dealt with his struggles as a young artist.<ref name=popmatters/> Schaff first met Menuck at Hotel2Tango, bonding over their shared interests and themes of workers' plight. Later, after he left behind some of his work at Hotel2Tango, Menuck approached him for permission to use his work for the album.<ref>Template:Cite interview</ref> One image included in the packaging depicts Benjamin Franklin severing Schaff's hands with shears as he is signing a lease, while another depicts Schaff, his wrists bandaged, witnessing George Washington and Franklin waving a pantsuit in front of a withdrawn woman.<ref name=popmatters>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The cover art, depicting Schaff's severed hands,<ref name=popmatters/> was repurposed from Notes to a Friend; Silently Listening No. 2 by John Arthur Tinholt.<ref name=exclaim/>

Lift Your Skinny Fists like Antennas to Heaven entered into the UK charts, run by the Official Charts Company, on the week of 21 October 2000. The album was on the UK Independent Albums Charts for five weeks, peaking at number five, and was on two other charts for one week, peaking at number 66 for the UK Album Charts and number 69 for the Scottish Albums Charts.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The album, along with the rest of Godspeed You! Black Emperor's discography, was removed from streaming services on 17 August 2025. Their label, Constellation, made no comment on the situation.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Reception

Lift Your Skinny Fists like Antennas to Heaven garnered critical acclaim. On Metacritic, it has a score of 84 based on 13 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".<ref name="metacritic.com"/> Critics have regarded the album to be beautiful and sprawling.Template:Efn Alternative Press called it "a massive instrumental effort" that is "as skilled and musical as it is on-the-fly improvised and messy",<ref name=alternativepress>Template:Cite magazine</ref> and The Austin Chronicle calling it "cinematic" and "breathtaking in its grandiose beauty".<ref name="austinchronicle"/> Highlighting the album's uplifting nature and use of field recordings, The Village Voice called Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas the "best movie I've seen all year."<ref name=villagevoice>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Among more mixed reviews, Rolling Stone found the album one-note but commended its compositional ambition,<ref name=rollingstone/> and The Guardian noted occasional "passages of spellbinding beauty" but found the listening experience uneven.<ref name=guardian/>

Critical comparisons with Godspeed You! Black Emperor's prior discography were divided. The A.V. Club called the album "as beautiful and disarming as its predecessors".<ref name=avclub-review>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Pitchfork assessed the first disc as representative of the band's past work and the second disc to be "the future",<ref name=pitchfork.com/> and AllMusic found the album overall to be less predictable due to its dynamic nature.<ref name=allmusic/> In contrast, The Wire found the album to be more meaningless, with the radical nature of Godspeed You! Black Emperor's music being "reduced to rock gesture".<ref name=thewire-review>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Both Spin and The Guardian considered the album less consistent than the band's prior work.<ref name=spin/><ref name=guardian/>

Retrospectively, critical reception of Lift Your Skinny Fists like Antennas to Heaven has remained positive. Tiny Mix Tapes called the album "alternately hypnotic and captivating, sleepy and startling" comparing its sounds to "a far subtler Pink Floyd".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Sputnikmusic gave the album a perfect score and, deeming the album indescribable, called upon the reader to listen to the album for themselves.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In their 20th anniversary reviews, both The A.V. Club and Stereogum deemed the album as representative of the failures of capitalism in the 21st century and highly mythical and evocative.<ref name="avcpr">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=stereogum>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> PopMatters positively emphasized the album's instrumental and protesting nature.<ref name=popmatters/>

The album went on to be included in numerous year-end and decade-end music lists.<ref name=exclaim/> Magnet included it in its "20 Best Albums of 2000" list.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> NME ranked it number 16 in its "Top 50 Albums of the Year".<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Sputnikmusic named it the 6th best album of the 2000s.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Pitchfork named it the 5th best album of the year<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and the 65th best album of the decade.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> They also ranked the first subsection of the track "Storm" at number 283 on their list of "Top 500 tracks of the 2000s".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Tiny Mix Tapes ranked it 7th on their "Favorite 100 Albums of 2000–2009" list.<ref name="100 Albums of 2000-2009: 20-01">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> LAS Magazine ranked it the 14th greatest album of the decade.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Gigwise included the album on its list of the 50 best albums of the 2000s.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> A 2020 BBC overview of double albums lists this as an "honorable mention" for releases that the audience needs to hear.<ref name="bbc">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Paste magazine placed this album on 6 in their list of 50 post-rock albums of all time.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Track listing

Adapted from Godspeed You! Black Emperor's official discography.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Personnel

Adapted from liner notes and AllMusic.<ref name="allmusic"/> Names are in order based on liner notes.<ref>Template:Cite AV media notes</ref>

Godspeed You! Black Emperor

• Sophie Trudeau – violin
• Norsola Johnson – cello
• David Bryant – electric guitar
• Thierry Amar – bass guitar
• Aidan Girt – drums
• Mauro Pezzente – bass guitar
• Bruce Cawdron – drums
• Roger Tellier-Craig – guitar
• Efrim Menuck – guitar

Other personnel

• Daryl Smith – recording
• Brian Cram – horn (tracks 1a and 3c)
• Alfons – horn (tracks 1a and 3c)

Charts

Chart (2000)	Peak position
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Sources

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External links

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