| It Was Hot, We Stayed in the Water | ||||
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| Released | September 26, 2000 | |||
| Recorded | September 24, 1999 – March 6, 2000 | |||
| Studio | Dub Narcotic Studio (Olympia, Washington) | |||
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| Length | 41:24 | |||
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| The Microphones chronology | ||||
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It Was Hot, We Stayed in the Water is the second studio album by American indie folk and indie rock band the Microphones. It was released by K Records on September 26, 2000. After gaining a small following with 1999's Don't Wake Me Up, frontman Phil Elverum recorded It Was Hot at Dub Narcotic Studio in Olympia, Washington, between September 1999 and March 2000. Recorded on analog tape, Elverum embraced the medium's technical imperfections. Classified by critics as indie rock, lo-fi, and indie pop, It Was Hot revolves thematically around the concept of water, with lyrics focusing on nature. The 11-minute track "The Glow" acts as the album's climax and introduces the concept of the "glow", which would be explored in more depth on the Microphones' subsequent studio album, The Glow Pt. 2.
On release, It Was Hot received positive reviews from Pitchfork, AllMusic, Rock Sound, and NME. Pitchfork listed the album at number seven in their "Top 20 Albums of 2000". Following its 2013 reissue, the album was critically reappraised, receiving positive reviews from PopMatters, Consequence of Sound, and Treblezine. The album is frequently compared to, and commonly said to be overshadowed by, The Glow Pt. 2.