Review:

on 2011-05-07 CharlesMartel Said:

For many people, shoegaze didn't quite cut the mustard as a musical experience. There was too much of the brooding pasty faced young men with mop haircuts, clearly out of their tree on some chemical or other, gawping at their feet and droning on and on. Meanwhile the guitars sounded like a cheap television with the aerial pulled out and the volume up. Hardly any wonder that it didn't catch on, commercially, at the time.

Shoegaze was alright for some - especially arty-farty university types and their unwashed clothes eating Pot Noodles and reading Karl Marx. But what shoegaze lacked above all was a penis. Not just any penis, a fucking great big penis: one you could take down the pub and impress your mates with; one you could wave above your head and impress the girls with. So, if you feel the need to explore shoegaze but want your music to have balls, you would do well to check out "Raise".

Swervedriver are a shoegaze band you can get down and dirty to. You can put them on your in car stereo and break speed limits down motorways while sticking two fingers up at the cops: you can play it loud - real loud - while fixing chopper handlebars to your Harley; you can play this on the jukebox while knocking back nine pints of Stella and stopping off for a kebab on the way home. Swervedriver have balls - big ones - and they are not afraid to take them out and show them to prove it. Swervedriver are where shoegaze meets pub rock. And "Raise" is Swervedriver at their rawest and most unrefined. This, their first album, pulls no punches. The music is fast and loud and the production is rougher than middle-aged tart's Brazilian pubic hair cut.

Ride may sing about clouds on "Vapour Trail" and Slowdive may sing about the wind on "Catch the Breeze". None of that namby-pamby wet-behind-the-ears Liberal nonsense for Swervedriver. They are going to sing about gas guzzling cars for real men with BIG penises ("Son of Mustang Ford"). Slowdive may think science fiction is about Greek food on "Souvlaki Space Station" but as far as Swervedriver are concerned its about rocket ships going very very fast ("Sci-Flyer"). I bet they like guns too - fucking great big ones you use to defend your home against burglars who will rape you and wicked socialist types who will take away your freedoms. Swervedriver might be a shoegaze band but their other roots are clearly on display. They were once called Shake Appeal and as that name is the same as a track on Iggy and the Stooges' "Raw Power" there is no mistaking their rock influences.

The driving force around Swervedriver is the dual guitars of Jimmy Hartridge and Adam Franklin. They manage to provide ample power while weaving the sounds of the guitars in and out of each other. Dripping with effects and volume they are held in place by a melodic bass line and some pretty forceful drumming. Swervedriver might go on to more sophisticated things, but they never strayed that far from their roots. Had it not been for a record label which was pretty much bankrupted by the excesses of one of their stable mates, Swervedriver could have become a household name. But they didn't, and while it takes some hunting to locate their albums these days, it is worth it.

It is good to have a penis.
Rating: 6/10