SWERVEDRIVER: “I WASN’T BORN TO LOSE YOU” RELEASED 3/3/2015 ON COBRASIDE.
Every Swervedriver album always takes more than one listen to get it. This one is no exception. There are several great tunes to draw you in but after repeated listens you will find yourself absorbed by it. If you have never heard Swervedriver or are just trying to get a flavor of this album, “Autodidact” and “Lone Star” are good starting points (plus the videos are great and are made by the band themselves).
Swervedriver is the perfect band to listen to on a road trip. You can pick any album* and you have the perfect soundtrack. Their music has that kind of mood. One of calm deliberate motion. Not only does the song “Autodidact” convey that, so does the video! They are the poets of travel (“gas stations as churches/holy fuel forever spilled”). They don’t sound like a band that hasn’t released any new material in fifteen years. It’s like the time never passed! Never has a band been so consistent and yet have each album so distinctly different. There’s always that unique Swervedriver sound but it’s never a case of, “Oh, I’ve heard that one before.” So don’t expect a repeat of 1997’s “99th Dream“. It’s so refreshing in these days of bland cookie-cutter production line music.
Production-wise, they have Alan Moulder on board once again. It’s now his 4th album with them. I could write volumes about the many things he does to make their albums unique. It’s like he’s a fifth member. The album sounds so warm, it is closer to an analog feel than I’ve heard any rock band come to on disc. (It’s my opinion and I know it can be debated. lol).
The songs on the album just seem to flow from one into the other effortlessly. The music is straightforward in many respects but there is still so much going on. I still marvel at how many little parts they can add without sounding cluttered. The sound is thick but fluid (tip of the hat to Alan Moulder). Their lyrics are like signposts along the dreamscape they create. “Everso” is a great example. It’s dense, dynamic and hypnotic. And their choice of guitar effects and when to use them is impeccable.
Only the Black Sabbath-like “Red Queen’s Arms Race” seems out of place. . . but, then again, it’s not. I thought it was out of place at first because, in retrospect, it wasn’t what I expected. But after a few listens it fits. It’s hard to explain why it fits but it does. It’s that good ‘ol element of subjectivity in art! (Note: By Sabbath-like I don’t mean “Neon Knights,” I’m thinking “Electric Funeral”).
The drumming on this album is not as busy. This is because they have a new drummer. Their new drummer Mikey Jones has a more contained approach which I couldn’t imagined this album being without. It is totally appropriate for the material. I’ve seen them live and, trust me, he covers the older stuff more than adequately.
The only complaint that I’ve heard from Swervedriver fans is that it’s not as aggressive as their previous albums. The thing about Swervedriver is that they have never been as much about aggression as about creating atmosphere. When I was around Michigan State University years ago, there was a college radio show called “Psychedelic Sunday” that used to play tracks from their first album semi-regularly . . . there’s a reason for that, atmosphere. In regards to their earlier stuff . . . listening to the song “Cars Converge On Paris,” the word that comes to mind is not “aggression”.
* with the possible exception of “Remote Ejector Seat” but you might disagree. That’s fine by me.