Swervedriver: Raise / Mezcal Head (original) (raw)

It seems that in every musical movement, there are worthy artists who get lost in the shuffle. In the case of Britain's late-1980s/early-90s shoegazer scene, Swervedriver had the unfortunate distinction of being one of those bands. Forged in the same Oxford milieu that produced Ride and Radiohead, they were positioned under the shoegaze umbrella because of their sound, not their attitude. While many bands operating in similar territory earned the title by literally standing on stage staring at the floor (which was covered in guitar pedals) and letting their lyrics get swept away in the texture of the music, Swervedriver projected a tougher image, drawing their name and much of their lyrical imagery from American car culture and films. If their counterparts were about capturing the look of a vapor trail in their guitar tones, Swervedriver's Adam Franklin and Jimmy Hartridge were more about simulating the rocket ride that produced the trail in the first place. They sounded great on a car stereo.

Because of this, they were much better equipped to make it big in the U.S. than peers like Ride, Slowdive, Chapterhouse, and even My Bloody Valentine; for all the usual boring reasons (label trouble, lineup instability), it didn't pan out that way. They released four albums, only three of which came out stateside, and filled in the space around them with a shelf's worth of EPs and 7"s before hanging it up-- temporarily, as it turned out-- in 1999. Their first two albums, Raise and Mezcal Head, languished out of print for years before BMG resurrected them last year, and Hi-Speed Soul is giving them a second run in America with a slightly expanded tracklist.

1991's Raise was a quality debut, and it's dated surprisingly well. The muscular, scorching guitars are the heart of the album, and they still bring the noise like nobody's business. The big distortion and interlocking riffs give most of the album a dense, bright sound with a lot of punch. "Son of Mustang Ford" rumbles like the car it's named for, "Rave Down" launches into hyperspace after three minutes of tense, grungy crunching, and "Sunset" pulls back a bit, layering cleaner guitars than usual over a bubbling bassline and unison vocals. While the band had already perfected its sonic punch, the songwriting was a bit of a work in progress. Outside of "Sunset", Raise is somewhat wanting for sharp vocal melodies, with Franklin and Hartridge trading off deadpan intonations.

Two years later, on Mezcal Head, the songs caught up to the guitars. "For Seeking Heat", "Girl on a Motorbike", "You Find It Everywhere", and "Blowin' Cool" weave laser-guided melodies through tangles of distortion-drenched guitar. The band lost its original rhythm section between albums, but new drummer Jez Hindmarsh absolutely crushes his kit, matching the intensity of the guitar maelstrom. "Last Train to Satansville" is the height of alt-rock badassery, opening with the brilliant couplet "'You look like you've been losing sleep,' said the stranger on a train/ I fixed him with an ice-cold stare and said, 'I've been having those dreams again.'" The sentiment is backed up with a monster guitar riff and chunky rhythm, and if I had to pick just one Swervedriver song to introduce the band, that'd be it. Just as every movement has overlooked artists, every movement has lost classics, and Mezcal Head really is the lost classic of the shoegaze movement, visceral but tuneful, and perhaps the nearest simulation of a rocket launch recorded in the 90s.

The reissues each add four period bonus tracks, which seem more or less to be a random selection from over a dozen available EP and 7" offerings. Mezcal Head drops the 12-minute "Never Lose That Feeling/Never Learn" meltdown that closed the original U.S. version of the album, replacing it with the shorter EP version of "Never Lose That Feeling". Overall, it's high-quality stuff-- especially Raise bonus "Andalucia"-- but it won't give a collector any closure, especially given that one of the passed-over tracks is the wicked, steel guitar-soaked headrush "Scrawl & Scream", from 1991's Reel to Real EP. Castle Music's Juggernaut Rides compilation remains the best source for Swervedriver's rarities. For an introduction to the band, though, Mezcal Head can't be beat, and it's great to have it and Raise available again. If you missed them the first time or simply weren't around to hear them, Swervedriver is worth the trip back in time.