Swell Maps
“Swell Maps began in 1972. They were formed by brothers Epic Soundtracks and Nikki Sudden together with their friend David Barrington. Jowe Head, Richard Earl & John Cockrill came on board over the next few years. Richard and Jowe stayed – the others became more temporary members… In September 1977 they went in the studio for the first time – although many home recordings were made – and still exist! Swell Maps were (are) seen as being a cross between Can and T.Rex by the members of the band. Others may disagree but that’s their loss. Swell Maps broke up in mid-1980 for many reasons – some known – many others unknown.”
Classify them under ‘strange’ or even deranged. Superb first single clocking in at 1:27 seconds Read About Seymour / Ripped and Torn / Black Velvet (1977 Rather Records) and a second, Dresden Style / Ammunition Train / Full Moon (1978 Rough Trade), isn’t so bad either. Funnily enough the song doesn’t appear to ever mention Dresden instead it sounds like he’s saying ‘I’m just sucking silly boys today’. There’s a year gap between these singles yet Dresden was written in 1976. Not prolific then!
Also check out International Rescue the compilation album. In fact check it all out they are a hidden gem and fucking good and often play scorching classic tuneful punk rock as good as any other abdn and often better!
If you get the album Trip To Marineville you are in for a suprise. A review of them live from 1979 Sounds writer Mick Middles best describes their attitude ” …The Swell maps are the most professional unprofessional band I’ve ever had the (mis)fortune to witness…the Swell Maps are presently attempting to conquer the art of turning badness into madness”
My ex thinks the album is just bad. She’s got a point, but the first two singles are classics.
Very influential band as Wikipedia confirms
Swell Maps have been cited as an influence by bands including Dinosaur Jr., R.E.M., Nirvana and Pavement. Thurston Moore from Sonic Youth acknowledged the influence of the Swell Maps in 1981, writing “As soon as that Nikki Sudden guitar comes slicing slabbing and all out fuzzifying off that crackling vinyl groove you know you’re gonna rock. It’s the best of both whirls: fist-in-the-heart guitar burnin’ rock and ahead-of-its-time songsmith awareness … The Swell Maps had a lot to do with my upbringing”. Scott Kannberg of Pavement said “Swell Maps was a big influence on our early records … they had these songs they fucked up somehow to make sound really dirty and low frequency, but they had these great songs underneath all this mess”. Tim Gane of Stereolab said that when he first bought A Trip to Marineville, “I must have played it a hundred times or more, just to listen to every single second of it”.
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