Alpinisms is the debut studio album by American band School of Seven Bells. It was originally released on Ghostly International on October 28, 2008, and re-released on Vagrant Records on July 14, 2009. The deluxe edition with bonus tracks was released on October 13, 2009. The album peaked at number 17 on the UK Independent Albums Chart.
Background
In 2004, Alejandra Deheza and her twin sister Claudia (both of On!Air!Library!) met Benjamin Curtis (of Secret Machines) when they were on tour with Interpol. In 2007, they formed School of Seven Bells and started making music together. The group's debut studio album, whose working title was Wired for Light, was officially titled Alpinisms.
According to the review aggregator Metacritic, Alpinisms received "generally favorable reviews" based on a weighted average score of 70 out of 100 from 23 critic scores.
Eric Harvey of Pitchfork said, "Throughout Alpinisms, the group finds a perfect middle ground between the indie realms of tribal and choral, layering electronic flourishes without letting them overwhelm the arrangements." M. R. Newmark of PopMatters commented that "School of Seven Bells hit the sweet spot with enough frequency to make Alpinisms worthwhile, and though not every experiment works, it should give those who have been following these musicians around some satisfaction to realize that this is the sort of album they've been waiting so long to create." Lukas Suveg of Tiny Mix Tapes stated, "Although this final version could have featured more diverse song selections, Alpinisms is an undoubtedly singular album, setting the bar quite high for this burgeoning trio."
