Swervedriver: Classic or Dud?

Mezcal Head is one of my favorite albums.

-- BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Saturday, March 8, 2008 12:36 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Link

^

been listening to it a lot lately

Remember being at Reading, Festering in about , many years ago shunning this great band.

They were on the main stage. My trendy , snobby friends and myself- even worse -turned away, muttering 'fucking shoegazing shit' to go and watch probably somebody pointless like Heavy Stereo or Adorable in the tent.
I remember walking away thinking' What a great riff - what a tune' I can still picture the ugly dreadlocked, long haired pedal fixated tossers, flailing on the mainstage. Should have stayed. Peer pressure

Son Of Mustang Ford rules. There was some free tape with one of the music papers that had a great demo version of that song, I played that all the time when I was 16.

xp i'll rep for adorable!

different approach, though

one thing i love about swervedriver is how jagged their rhythm is.. almost vu-ish.. mixed with all those guitar tones of various colors and textures

mmm

Attention Swervedriver: Come to Seattle.

Duel is just a great rock song. Propulsive. Their songs tend to drag on a bit longer than I'd like at times, though.

I'm glad to hear there's so much love here for the first album! I'm kinda surprised, actually. I've still got my autographed vinyl copy. I think I'll dig that out.

Hmm. The first side isn't as good as the second, methinks. "Sci-Flyer" sounds suspiciously like Ride's "Seagull" in the riff department.

I saw Swervedriver and Adorable on the same bill! Though Swervedriver + Chapterhouse was a better combo. Happy days. I thought "Rave Down" was their best song.

I saw Swervedriver open for Ned's Atomic Dustbin. Odd double bill to be sure.

First time I saw both of 'em as well. VERY odd.

uk show announced.

SWERVEDRIVER play their first British show for 10 years

SEPTEMEBER 16TH at London Scala

Pioneering shoegaze legends Swervedriver have returned from a 10‐year hiatus to play a special show at London’s Scala.
Promoted by Club AC30, the event will see the band performing material from their four previous albums, released on Creation and Geffen.
Swervedriver have left an indelible mark on alternative music, with tracks like ‘Never Lose That Feeling’ and ‘Duel’ earning them a place amongst the alt‐indie greats.
The band will be touring the States later in the year, with the possibility of new material to follow.

'duel' slays.

six by seven supports.

fuck you guys for talking about how much you love this band without even acknowledging all the racist skinhead neo-nazi stuff

Swervedriver =! $krewdriver

I saw them when they came through Seattle a couple of months back. It was cool. I was amazed how little they'd aged.

Saw that Scala gig on my last.fm, might try and make that. Even though I still haven't heard anything since their 1st album, but I loved that when I was 16.

That would be the pre-nazi album, obviously.

fuck you guys for talking about how much you love this band without even acknowledging all the racist skinhead neo-nazi stuff

All I'm saying is watch out when I put Cormega on the blast in a NORE thread.

(yes "the blast" was intentional stfu)

I saw the Austin show a couple months ago, it was really great.

The three Creation albums due for reissue mid-October, with bonus tracks:

Raise:

# Hands
# Andalucia
# Kill The Superheros
# Over

Mezcal Head:

# Never Lose That Feeling
# Planes Over The Skyline
# The Hitcher
# Paris

Ejector Seat Reservation:

# Maelstrom
# The Directors Cut Of Your Life
# Just Sometimes
# Neon Lights Glow

(This last one also has the original hidden tracks.)

Anyone go to the reunion show in London the other week? I went to Black Lips/King Khan & BBQ Show instead.

The first one alone is missing these tracks from their EPs:

Volcano Trash
Juggernaut Rides (!!!)
She's Beside Herself (!!!)
Afterglow
Zedhead
Flawed
Out
Laze It Up
Surf Twang
Deep Twang

Yeah, I was wondering about that. Did most of those end up on the best-of, though?

Juggernaut Rides includes only "Juggernaut Rides" of the above selection.

Are these UK only?

nope:

http://www.hispeedsoul.com/artists.php?artistID=6

RAISE, MEZCAL HEAD and EJECTOR SEAT RESERVATION US reissues!

January 6th 2009 (now has been changed to 2-19-2009) sees the first three Swervedriver albums re-issued in the US by Second Motion/Hi Speed Soul Records

Artist. SWERVEDRIVER Title. MEZCAL HEAD-EXTENDED VERSION
Street Date. 2/19/2009

Notes.
Limited edition digitally remastered and expanded digipak edition of this 1993 album featuring four bonus tracks ('Never Lose That Feeling', 'Planes Over The Skyline', 'The Hitcher' and 'Paris') and liner notes from the band.

Tracks

1. For Seeking Heat
2. Duel
3. Blowin' Cool
4. MM Abduction
5. Last Train To Satansville
6. Harry And Maggie
7. A Change Is Gonna Come
8. Girl On A Motorbike
9. Duress
10. You Find It Everywhere
11. Never Lose That Feeling
12. Planes Over The Skyline
13. The Hitcher
14. Cars Converge On Paris

Artist. SWERVEDRIVER Title. RAISE-EXTENDED VERSION
Street Date. 2/19/2009

Notes.
Limited edition digitally remastered and expanded digipak edition of this 1991 album featuring four bonus tracks ('Hands', 'Andalucía', 'Kill The Superheroes' and 'Over') and liner notes from the band.

Tracks

1. Sci Flyer
2. Pile Up
3. Son Of Mustang Ford
4. Deep Seat
5. Sandblasted
6. Sunset
7. Feel So Real
8. Sandblasted
9. Lead Me Where You Dare
10. Hands
11.Anadalucia
12. Kill The Superheroes
13. Over

This is awesome, but I think I already own everything the band's ever recorded. Please report back if the remasters "sound" good enough for completists to reconsider buying said reissues.

Adam Franklin's new one is definitely worth checking. 100% recommended. Better than his last attempt.

Wish I could type / articulate better

mezcal head is dope

Seeing these guyz live next month. Hoping it'll be good - its been a long time.

(Agree on Mezcal Head's awesomeness)

seeing them tonight!! the setlist from their brisvegas show last night is v heavy on the first two elpees

damn they're in australia at the moment?? sucks being on the other side of the globe in situations like these.

weird show. venue was way undersold (odd, considering that their sat show has been long sold out). 2nd support band had one of the worst mixes i've ever heard. swervies played p well and the setlist was fantastic, though as a result of the tiny crowd we only got one of the three encore songs on the setlist (missed out on sandblasted, drag)

When are they playing Ingerland again?

Checked their website and no sign of a show?

Would love to see them again after my poncy Reading no show ^^^

Another album?

Oh was the espy show LAST night? How weird! I guess I'll report back here on satdee night/sunday and letchers know how the Corner show went.

I think a lot of ppl maybe either didnt know about the 2nd show, or (rightfully) avoided Espy as a shite venue.

their brisvegas show last night

Never heard this term for Brisbane before and my immediate thought was, "those Vegas shows just keep getting more and more ridiculous, don't they".

hahaha

So hey I saw 'em live tonight and it was a pretty decent show! Here is some (apologetically bad) footage of "Last Train to Satansville" I filmed. Unlike my Wire footage last month this one came out crummy, I'm not sure why.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijoR0rowsBo

Thats OK I'm still enjoying it. Thanks for posting it!

:D

Swervedriver
Echoplex (below the Echo)
Los Angeles, CA
Sun, 06/19/11
07:00 PM

Irving Plaza
New York, NY
Thu, 06/16/11
10:30 PM

bee ok did you go to that show?

Swervedriver 2012 US Tour Dates
The boys are coming back:

Mar 28 Philadelphia, Union Transfer
Mar 29 Boston, Brighton Music Hall
Mar 30 Washington DC, Rock and Roll Hotel
Mar 31 New York City, Bowery Ballroom
Apr 2 Cleveland, Grog Shop
Apr 3 Chicago, Bottom Lounge
Apr 4 Seattle, Neumo's
Apr 5 Portland, Doug Fir Lounge
Apr 6 San Francisco, Slim's
Apr 7 Los Angeles, Key Club

for whatever reason, slim's tickets are listed at $163-164. what the fuckity fuck

And we got new EP

https://swervedriver.bandcamp.com/album/the-worlds-fair-ep

They also got an in depth feature/boost on Beato, of all places!!!

looks like they recorded this with him as well

hurrah!

Did anyone else buy they vinyl of this? Received it in the mail yesterday, and it appears to be mastered at the wrong speed?

Whoops ha just discovered I need a new turntable belt. As you were, everyone!

Belated but it was really nice to catch them again after three decades along the other night -- sadly couldn't stay through the whole set but what I caught was a treat. They have their sound and they do it very well.

saw them a few years ago on a boat in bristol,
and yeah,
for all their non-showy groove,
they can still make the noise work.

Never seen em, really wanted to this time but alas.

whole show was great of course but "MM Abduction" was the one last night, i really don't know how they do it

I’ve seen them twice during their reformation era. The first time they played Mezcal Head in its entirety, just a monster album to me since I heard it in 1993/4 (and played tracks off it as a college radio DJ) when it came out.

The second time was earlier this year. I guess their tour was broken up and they’re just getting to the West Coast now?

Shocked when I saw two teen girls at the concert, everyone else was an old man like me.

Oh I had my own surreal moments like that at my show. At one point two teens or young women walked by me, one of whom was wearing a Ride Nowhere shirt, and I had an unstuck-in-time moment and then some, thinking back to seeing Swervedriver for the first time in 1991 a couple of months after I first saw Ride for said album's tour in the same venue and where by default most of us WERE teens or young adults in those kind of T-shirts.

Seeing them tonight!

Man, this place is empty, it's too bad no one showed up.