When Too Much Joy first released Son of Sam I Am on the San Francisco-based indie label Alias Records, critics were delighted. Rolling Stone8 called it “an exciting, promising discovery,” the New York Times praised its “irresistible guitar-driven pop songs,” Penthouse declared it “the best indie rock record of the year,” while the *San Francisco Chronicle singled out “Kicking” as “easily the best new number in 1989.”