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Swervedriver

Brisk.Brisk. Posts: 11,486
edited June 2008 in Other Music
Anyone heard of these guys?

They opened for Soundgarden and Smashing Pumpkins in the 90s so i thought id check em out.

Im listening to raise and its pretty cool stuff.

anyone else like them?

anyone recomend anything else i should check out by them?

for those who dont know..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swervedriver

Swervedriver is an English alternative rock band from Oxford. Their sound was frequently compared to Sonic Youth, The Stooges, Dinosaur Jr, The Who, Catherine Wheel, and former labelmates My Bloody Valentine and Ride. After experiencing problems with several record labels, the band went on hiatus in 1999 without having reached a mainstream commercial audience. The band has reformed and is currently on a 2008 world tour.

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    1ThoughtKnown1ThoughtKnown Posts: 6,155
    edited October 2020
    12 years for a reply! Lol
    I bought Mezcal Head on vinyl a while back. Love that album. Shoegaze gold. I had Raise (and Mezcal Head) on CD in the early 90s and hadn’t listened to it for 25 years until yesterday. Back then I wasn’t as fond of Raise as I was yesterday. It has aged very well.

    The reason I went back was because Rick Beato was as showing some records he loves to his YouTube viewers and showed those two vinyls. I got all inspired and have finished listening to the entire discography oh Spotify (that was available) while driving around for work this week. My thoughts: 

    Raised - 1991 -  Great debut! Heavier than most of their Oxford shoegaze contemporaries.  The music is a driving wall of sound. Can’t help but bob your head. 

    Mezcal Head - 1993 - My favourite Swervedriver album. Duel is an AMAZING song. Front to back this is the bands most solid, consistent effort. 

    Ejector Seat Reservation - 1995 - Not available on Spotify for some reason. I’ll have to buy this album. I like all the others to varying degrees so I’m sure it won’t be money wasted. May have something to do with the label issues they were having. EDIT - vinyl arrived this week and had a listen.  Side 1 was ok... and I was a little worried. However Side 2 and the bonus songs on Side 3 made
    up for it. Overall a very solid album.  Will listen again. 

    99th Dream - 1999 - My least favourite of the Swervedriver releases, it is still listenable and enjoyable. They are pushing the shoegaze sound to different areas. Maturation of the songwriting.  Just a tad inconsistent in my opinion. They can’t all be zingers! I won’t be looking for this on vinyl, but if I came across a used copy for 5-10 bucks I’d grab it.

    I Wasn’t Born to Lose You - 2015 - After the breakup and reunion the band really put together a great album here. Most “comeback” albums are not fantastic, but this one would be the best release after the first two (without hearing the third one of course). Really enjoyed the first three songs in particular.  Excellent songwriting overall... different influences heard. Most enjoyable.

    Future Ruins - 2019 - Mellow shoegaze. A great listen if you are in that kind of dreamy, relaxed state of mind. The title track and Radio-Silent in particular are like these musical floating carpet rides of sound. They weren’t going to sound like the early 90s forever. Think PJ... who wants to hear teen angst from 50 year olds? 

    Ive looked on Discogs and can purchase all these on vinyl if I want (didn’t look for 99th Dream as previously mentioned) including Ejector Seat Reservation which I am now super-excited to hear. I honestly cannot remember if I ever heard that album. 


    Post edited by 1ThoughtKnown on
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    1ThoughtKnown1ThoughtKnown Posts: 6,155
    Rick Beato’s GREAT Interview with Adam Franklin:
    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RJc1HN2PxXI

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