REVIEW: Swervedriver, 99th Dream (Zero Hour)
- Patrick Carmosino
Alan McGee parting ways with Swervedriver and signing the likes of Super Furry Animals and Three Colours Red in their wake just can't bode well for Creation Records. Especially when the Swervie's fourth disc, 99th Dream, is chock full of the sounds that made the label famous. Walls of guitars, ponderous lyrics and pop sensibility continue to be the calling cards of this Oxford-bred ensemble. Originally cast into the same shoegazer box as early-90's peers Lush, My Bloody Valentine, Ride and Curve, Swervedriver's 1991 debut Raise (A&M Records) proved to be on the perimeter of that genre, trading more on chunky yet thoughtful metallic sounds. Seven years on, 99th Dream may ironically be the light that sparks the 'dream pop' revival.
For one of the best things about Dream is that it never makes grandiose rock and roll promises, only to let the listener down later on. It delivers the goods in its own time and space. Check out the care-free instrumental "Stellar Caprice" for proof. The languid guitar layers, headed up by a harpsichord like lead, makes one wonder what would have happened if Pet Sounds-era Brian Wilson had shared some of the substances he had with guitar boy wonder/brother Carl. "Stellar Caprice" is an electric godchild to the Beach Boys' "Let's Go Away For Awhile".
Swervedriver's pop abilities are also on exhibition throughout this record. In fact, the band reaches a nirvana in sound when it pulls from such sources as All Things Must Pass -era George Harrison (the title track) mixed with a horizon-stretching view a la early Pink Floyd ("She Weaves A Tender Trap"), a simple indie-pop philosophy ("These Times") and a link to the current Oasis/Verve axis ("Wrong Treats"). Adam Frankiln's soulful vocals, are as ever, a soulful glue that gives Swervedriver an appealing warm sense of what they are doing (check out the wry harmonies on "In My Time" for proof!). The fuzz box/flange heroics of Franklin and fellow guitarist Jimmy Hartridge make it all the more fun. You can really get a grasp of this on the album's barnstorming closer "Behind The Scenes Of The Sounds & The Times", where the Swervies provide a sonic boom that lacks the false angst of...say... Smashing Pumpkins. Perhaps Swervedriver's former labels (Creation, A&M and Geffen) fucked up indeed!
