Swervedriver: Classic or Dud?

Lead singer Adam Franklin's pursuing a solo career now, if I'm not mistaken.

Best Rock Band of the `90's: Cop Shoot Cop

http://www.swerved river.com/rider_index.html

Anyway, what's so wrong about talking about shoegaze? What would you prefer we talk about?

People who say 'Stop talking about dregs of shoegazing' should look forward to me posting on their threads and telling them to stop talking about their favourite piles of crap.

I quite liked Swervedriver, even though I shockingly only have 2 of their albums- Raise and erm, 99th Dream, I think? I do have to give them props because they were one of the only good bands in the history of forever to bother playing in Albany, NY, while I was living there. And they brought Medicine with them, to boot!

Now there is a critically underrated band if I ever heard one...

Shoegazing threads, hooray!

SEEK: For Seeking Heat, Duel, Blowin' Cool, Last Train to Satansville, You Find It Everywhere, Mustang Ford

EXTRA SEEK: The Other Jesus

Dud:- 99th Dream

Definitely one of the better bands of the 90's

I keep on hoping for more pulp-fiction-like stories, a la "Last Train to Satansville". Never happened, though. And I still don't know what to make of _Toshack Highway_ (Adam Franklin's solo joint).

I especially love how you think it's going one way and then it, er, shifts gears into another song and then back again. Bonus points for the chiming major-key guitar riff in between the synth-wobbles and "I'm going down, down to the marketplace..."

US tour dates are leaking out...

From http://www.brooklynvegan.com/archives/2008/03/swervedriver_re_1.html

Henry Fonda Theatre, Los Angeles - May 31 (tickets on sale this Saturday)
Bowery Ballroom, NYC - June 11
Music Hall Williamsburg - June 12

Huh, was thinking about them the other day. Time to revive the old Vervediver supergroup idea if Neil and Rachel aren't busy.

First album = classic.

Great group. I just loaned Raise and Mezcal Head to a friend who hadn't heard them before.

CLASSIC!!!
First album would be even classier ,if re produced/remastered or whatever those boffins do.

The rest weren't bad either.

Search 'Duel', 'The Birds' - and loads of other stuff

When I was so obsessed with all those Septic bands - you know the ones- the NME and Melody Maker had these down as some GAZE band. Wrong.And I fell for it

They rocked

read this as Steendriver: Classic or Dud and was :(

Mezcal Head is one of my favorite albums.

yeah the first album really is incredible, still. a deluxe reissue with all the tracks from the first four EPs as a bonus would be ^_^

that would be perfect. they should do that with all of the albums

i love how like half of juggernaut rides is bsides

vervediver.. rofl

Don't forget Ejector Seat Reservation either. Some of their best songs are on that album.

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.

me! It was an awesome show, was very impressed by the fiery versions of Satansville and Duel. New songs sounded good to.

*too

Ah lucky you. And though they are past their ... heyday .. would have been fun to see the Church on the bill too

Great video of the SXSW show I went to:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joZYZxoOfa0

Really privileging the new stuff here.

This new album is so great for the Spring, I love when releases match their seasons well.

during my thursday wine excess, i got tix for this sundays show in bristol.

any ilm'rs going : FAP ?

Hey, new track via Adult Swim

https://soundcloud.com/adultswimsingles/swervedriver

very nice

Dawn, O.P., Swervedriver -- this singles series is in my brain. Let the thread bump also serve as a reminder that "I Wasn't Born to Lose You" is terrific!

http://www.swervedriver.com/images/Swerve-2017-618.png

Raise and Mezcal Head September Tour 2017:

9/7 Metro, Chicago
9/8 Lee's Palace, Toronto
9/9 Brighton Music Hall, Allston
9/10 Music Hall of Williamsburg, Brooklyn
9/11 Union Transfer, Philadelphia
9/12 Back Cat, Washington
9/14 Cat's Cradle, Carrboro
9/15 Terminal West, Atlanta
9/16 The Social, Orlando
9/17 Siberia, New Orleans
9/18 Trees, Dallas
9/19 3ten Austin City Limits Live, Austin
9/21 191 Toole, Tucson
9/22 Casbah, San Diego
9/23 Bimbo's 365 Club, San Francisco
9/24 The Teragram Ballroom, Los Angeles

i'm so going, Rise and then a break and then come back to playMezcal Head? heaven!

How about.... hell yes

Yeah, I'll be going to this

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/YzdviSTdVfjPb_iUYPMiJ038ullBDXC7Fd3kt0ultK4ygJ9nuAf2-R5pQmBnSksOMIL7esSZALXWCUOpsBvqMMZ80O2TobCfih3cwyOZ2NSQ6QfSSAEWp5082Mf-kfnfzbU07YZyCc4A8JZaNrdYx5r6Wg1tYjoJmZvDwevgU_H4YSRux3mwAbl-q6KnqYZfzw1zko2et79d8sqLH3NcUG3AStvoTCWvu3foNMGAqtbz902wfTtOYclcwXJ3iRRoPGTcZl5TTt1LjpsUIoEaXcalIpisOdiy57dycgQno25KcEexBmbfhB-5OcqvsD9369cM8VQTrPCjKsb74xDhDsrlVh9jDOidRxKcN0hnIl7hPTziM45QV8hVqrkIvhEx_EDAxE-ZC128WO6adY7N7bKhXWYwr9tFS70LVmR2mDrQye5y3a2R57XNP7c3aFqu97C4XEUhoEMIzAzMnAnJAKjgdZkcck8aV6JrAsHLYGp1w9_FZ16WSVkiOZ64ImZSFV16xbwtEaYIRSkv7v2anJ2ma2xaN2snTd856Plot3xv7X_rayewSvY-DmNLFBR_iMSznRBB8pAGPdFtjSXsmTaKi5-kRsujch3yBa5E3OK67g6fB-sc9iyklN72x-K6p1Ln7Pg-1tdagYGih_PMHK1oZhtCGwnxok1de_UK-wvwEQ=w1689-h950-no

on my way, pretty excited even if i have been sick all weekend.

New single sounding excellent. I swear they're a better band now than before

Other new single sounding excellent!

I keep forgetting to check it out!

new album is out this is great!

shoegaze bands on the whole do really well with reunions/comebacks

yeah I really enjoyed this. title track into theeascending is stunning

Dug their last a lot, and will get this one. Missed them in the day, though I saw many mentions of them in connection with Curve. Think Alan Moulder produced both? Plus they each had a Holy Grail cd rarity back in the day. Going back catalog has been rewarding. "Rave Down" off _Raise_ is a standout.

Hm, hadn't realized there was a new one. Will investigate.

Well here's something fun -- the original version of their debut EP

https://swervedriver.bandcamp.com/album/petroleum-spirit-daze

Wow cool! A good read from Mr. Franklin there too re: the band’s early days

I have the original CD of this!

I do too! Guess when it came to this band, we were a little (wait for it) ahead of the swerve.

This slower take on "Juggernaut Rides" is very interesting.

We finished the recording and I took a copy with me to Seville in Spain where I was having a week's holiday with my girlfriend. There was strong weed and oranges everywhere and I remember sitting by the ocean listening to these songs while looking across the water at the haze in the distance that was Morocco - I was looking at Africa while listening to our first record!

Mate, that was some strong weed indeed; Is Seville anywhere near the ocean?

Sounds nice though. I bought the original EP on CD as well.

> Is Seville anywhere near the ocean?

If you're in Seville for a week, taking a daytrip to the Estrecho isn't a big uh... stretch.

Must we be so reasonable.

couple of new bside comps on their bandcamp page:

https://swervedriver.bandcamp.com/album/honey-heavens-above

https://swervedriver.bandcamp.com/album/youth-at-the-summit

mezcal head : it really is all that and so much more.
not sure they ever bettered their thing across a whole album as well as they did on this.

a mighty mighty sound. they definitely lightened up a bit afterwards. 99th Dream is my favorite

they definitely lightened up a bit afterwards

think this is exactly why i love MH so much.
sonically it's a heavy listen, and they definitely pulled back from the excess after this album.

when quieter moods are required, then for me its all about 'Ejector Seat Reservation' which i genuinely believe to be one of the best modern rock albums ever,
and is a prime target for rediscovery by the Mojo/Uncut crew.

All their albums are so fantastic even the new ones are incredible.

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

― and what, Thursday, 31 July 2008 14:57 bookmarkflaglink

still one of my favourite ever ILX posts

It's funny, Ejector Seat sounds even more extreme to me, just layer upon layer of blown out guitars. I think it may have thrown their career off track. That one is badly in need of a reissue.

Also kind of funny to sample an anguished Kurt Cobain.

I had built ESR up so much in my mind (was hard to find in the US in the late 90s) that I was kinda let down at the time lol. Love “son of Jaguar e” and “the birds”

I love how they do this escalating thing on songs like "Duel" and "Bring Me the Head of the Fortune Teller" where each successive section introduces an even more impossibly massive guitar sound. It's almost like they are constantly trying to outdo themselves in a guitar arms race.

I Wasn't Born to Lose You still my favorite. '10s Swervedriver > '90s Swervedriver imo (narrowly), though I should probably take that to the controversial opinions thread.

That is quite challenging, for sure

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJc1HN2PxXI

remember seeing them in St. Paul a few years ago and still don't remember a British band that dressed so American

Saw them on their first USA tour that he talks about (Soundgarden/Swervedriver/Monster Magnet) which was really amazing.

(though he said it was 1991 but it was in fact spring 1992)

Yeah Swervedriver had hit America twice before that "A&M rocks out" lineup (which I saw as well) -- summer 1991 opening for Ned's Atomic Dustbin in a quick bicoastal stint IIRC then a separate tour near the start of 1992 with Ratcat opening. I saw them next on a Mezcal Head date but sadly never have seen them since.

The Mezcal Head date I saw them on had them opening for Smashing Pumpkins, a pretty good pairing given the Alan Moulder connection.