i’ll say it: this is by far the most obscure album i’ve reviewed so far on this blog. and while i have mostly been reviewing somewhat obscure music, this takes it to the next level. so first, who are swirlies? swirlies were an indie rock band active in the 90s based in boston, ma that are known for having a dreamy, idiosyncratic sound. they are often considered another shoegaze band or seen as derivatives of my bloody valentine or sonic youth, two more well-known indie rock bands. they spent their… is their second full-length album, released in 1996.
through this album, though, swirlies cement one thing. they’re misfits. they have the DIY attitude of slacker rock bands like pavement and sebadoh, the dreaminess of my bloody valentine on isn’t anything, and glitchy electronic blips and experimentation that remind me very much of stereolab. they’re strange, and admittedly a bit hard to understand, which might have led to their obscurity. but wow, you have to admire their creativity. in (a fairly long) 47 minutes, they spent their… manages to cover everything from cool punk-like soloing, dreamy epics, and catchy electronic music with a good dose of mysteriousness and humor.
at its core, the album is made of 8 songs: “In Harmony New Found Freedom“, “Sounds of Sebring“, “San Cristobal De Las Casas“, “Pony“, “Two Girls Kissing“, “Sterling Moss“, “Sunn“, and “The Vehicle Is Invisible“. the other 6 tracks are random recordings or short bits of electronic experimentation, and i might have to say these are the most polarizing parts of the album. on one hand, they’re fun and provide nice transitions, as in the case of “Do Any of You Know Anything About Love?“, a random conversation between the frontman (i think?) and an old man about the meaning of love that leads perfectly into “Two Girls Kissing”, and “Boys, Protect Yourselves from Aliens“, a silly, spacey track that leads into the otherworldly “Sunn“. on the other hand, most of them are pretty extraneous. but i’m going to focus on the main songs.
as for highlights, i have to say, most of the real songs here are really good, and that’s one of the album’s biggest strengths. but “In Harmony New Found Freedom”, a trippy, distorted waltz, “San Cristobal De Las Casas”, an intense, pure rock song, and “Two Girls Kissing”, an innocuous epic, best capture the swirlies’ sound with odd tunings, collage-like details and nuances everywhere, with a strange beauty at times. this album really grows on me with every listen-and honestly, when i think of awesome college rock, i think of this. 8.5/10!
tracklist:
q-street 