Swervedriver: bland?

[tuomas]

To make myself at home, I’m gonna start a new thread []

Back in ’92, at the tender age of 25, I used to write for a local indie zine called Nice Slacks. I was enthralled with SWD at the time, and excited that they were coming to Chicago (albeit on a bipolar bill of Soundgarden & Monster Magnet, at the pretty-large Riviera Theatre). I don’t have the text handy (I’ll post it later), but I wrote up the show from a dumbass average-Joe drunken rocker perspective (and in hindsight, didn’t give SWD nearly the rave-up(down?) they deserved). Another uppity scenester wrote up the same show, and dissed SWD – bear with me here, I’m recalling this from my THC-damaged memory – something to the effect of “Swervedriver had less pizazz than the British New Democratic Party.” This next part I do remember – “Somebody take their distortion pedals and copy of “Daydream Nation” away!”

Youthful indignation, I’m sure… the point is, I’ve always had a hard time figuring out why SWD affects me the way it does. So many other bands had a similar sound at the time, but precious few have survived, and to listen to their music now can sometimes be a drag. In fact, the posturing of most bands automatically puts a glass ceiling on their careers. I’ve never found that to be the case with SWD… at least musically. “Never Lose That Feeling” will still raise the hairs on my neck, and I’m hard pressed to name another band whose catalog I identify with wholeheartedly.

Was it a conscious lack of pretension? Did SWD’s label troubles negate any pigeonholing by the media? Hard to nail a moving target… and one that is so… stealth?

I’m a fan of modern architecture, and lucky enough to have been born and raised in a town that contains much work of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe – the man responsible for the phrase, “less is more”. Admittedly, it would be a stretch, but it would be interesting to know if Mr. Franklin abided by such a tenet…

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