I saw Swell at The Duchess of York in Leeds (RIP)around the time of 'Too Many Days....'The singer (is that our man 'David'?) appeared to be a bit, erm,stoned and grinned like a dufus throughout the set. This kind of detracted from that beautiful mesh of sound.
I'm not a drummer but have great admiration for Swell rhythms and sounds (obviously the latter could be down to the recording process)
― Jessie the Drunk Dutch Mountain Dog (Jessie the Drunk Dutch Mountai), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 19:46 (nineteen years ago) link
― What we want? Sex with T.V. stars! What you want? Ian Riese-Moraine! (Eastern Ma, Wednesday, 30 March 2005 19:50 (nineteen years ago) link
― sue me if you named sue, Wednesday, 1 March 2006 10:44 (eighteen years ago) link
― christoff (christoff), Wednesday, 1 March 2006 20:20 (eighteen years ago) link
― Pierre, Tuesday, 9 May 2006 13:47 (eighteen years ago) link
― one of them, Tuesday, 16 May 2006 01:58 (eighteen years ago) link
I still listen to these guys occasionally but haven't picked up anything new in years. Can anybody comment on Bastards and Rarities or on either of their two last proper releases?
― christoff, Thursday, 15 November 2007 16:27 (sixteen years ago) link
'whenever you're ready' is pretty good, def. better than the previous three releases (feed, everyone wants to know, and beautiful people). it sounded a bit radar brothers-y. no idea what they're up to at the moment; i fully expect this band to vanish completely and then david puts out something new every few years.
― akm, Thursday, 15 November 2007 18:20 (sixteen years ago) link
Ex drummer and Swell cover designer Sean Kirkpatrick is trying to pay for shoulder surgery:
http://www.seankirkpatrick.com/kirk_images/cover.jpg
― StanM, Wednesday, 5 December 2007 22:02 (sixteen years ago) link
Is this the only thread for Swell? Cheeesus Grist
― Fer Ark, Sunday, 20 July 2008 22:59 (fifteen years ago) link
Do they remain as stoners in their industrial/high tech practice place?
Fuck Even Flow
― Fer Ark, Sunday, 20 July 2008 23:01 (fifteen years ago) link
i saw them recently in paris in the maroquinerie and in weinheim. david plus two young guys. the drummer was hitting his kit hard and made a lot of shattering noise. the other one occasionally plucked his bass but mainly played around with the computer and created a kind of ethereal atmosphere. not really my cup of tea. swell has a new album out called south of the rain and snow which has some nice tunes. there will be another one soon. it will be titled be my weapon. actually radar bros. opened for them in weinheim, cf. upthread where akm compared the whenever you're ready to radar bros.
― alex in mainhattan, Thursday, 13 November 2008 15:49 (fifteen years ago) link
Oh man Swell. Just found a bunch of their albums for one dollar each! ...Well?, 41, and the S/T debut. Too Many Days Without Thinking was their best though. One of my 90s favs.
― Evan, Friday, 3 July 2009 23:17 (fourteen years ago) link
i just ordered the "be my weapon" cd via the swellsongs site. the songs on the myspace page sound pretty good. a return to form?
― alex in mainhattan, Sunday, 11 October 2009 17:18 (fourteen years ago) link
Two tracks in on the myspace page - classic Freel. Thanks for the heads up, alex!
― suspecterrain, Thursday, 22 April 2010 18:29 (fourteen years ago) link
be my weapon is pretty good actually. it is quite amazing that after all the years he has still got such great music in him. the sound hasn't really changed but he is not repeating himself by no means. what a stupid name though.
― alex in mainhattan, Thursday, 22 April 2010 20:31 (fourteen years ago) link
Agreed. I can only find it for sale on his website - and no wax! Where'd you find your copy?
― suspecterrain, Saturday, 24 April 2010 02:21 (fourteen years ago) link
i ordered it from his website and it got shipped to germany after some time.
― alex in mainhattan, Saturday, 24 April 2010 06:28 (fourteen years ago) link
Uh, suspecterrain, I can't reply to your message without an email address.
― Ned Raggett, Saturday, 24 April 2010 21:35 (fourteen years ago) link
swell
― Crackle Box, Thursday, 12 January 2012 14:19 (twelve years ago) link
I like how a band member posted upthread and none of us said anything!
― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 12 January 2012 14:29 (twelve years ago) link
I remember them!
http://devonrecordclub.wordpress.com/2012/09/22/swell-well-round-35m-toms-selection/
Great band and criminally overlooked.
― yugi ex, Saturday, 22 September 2012 18:14 (eleven years ago) link
just getting into this band.
quite an original and fully formed sound for it's time. like Grunge via San Francisco
and THOSE DRUMS
― hackshaw, Thursday, 3 July 2014 21:53 (nine years ago) link
Oh hey I missed this post.
I love this band- certainly had a distinct sound! Kinda fits nicely alongside 90s Giant Sand for me as far as the atmosphere it evokes.
― Evan, Tuesday, 2 September 2014 14:21 (nine years ago) link
Ah man, what sad news to wake up to. David Freel of Swell has passed. https://m.facebook.com/#!/story.php?story_fbid=10158292404932540&id=17058642539&m_entstream_source=timeline&ref=bookmarks
― Ned Raggett, Monday, 18 April 2022 11:30 (two years ago) link
RIP - great songwriter.
― BrianB, Monday, 18 April 2022 13:12 (two years ago) link
I'm going to dig out Too Many Days and buy 41
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Monday, 18 April 2022 15:27 (two years ago) link
Oh shit... Wasn't he running pSycho-sPecific Records? All those repressings etc. I got the sense he was doing that all himself.
I don't have facebook, so I was only able to see a tribute post underneath a pop up demanding I log in.
Really sad about this!
― Evan, Monday, 18 April 2022 18:00 (two years ago) link
Having a good time with 41, very different from Too Many Days and I'm intrigued by the people saying they were quite varied
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Monday, 23 May 2022 18:54 (two years ago) link
he was doing the repressings himself. his family have said they are going to continue fulfilling orders if possible, btw.
― akm, Monday, 23 May 2022 19:43 (two years ago) link
2023 Euro tour, "A tribute to David Freel" with Sean Kirkpatrick, Monte Vallier, John Dettman-Lytle & Niko Wenner
https://swell41.com/
― StanM, Thursday, 16 February 2023 16:54 (one year ago) link
Wow can’t believe I missed Swell when they played Houston! When was that?
― Mduchamp, Monday, 20 February 2023 00:06 (one year ago) link
yeah I really wish they were doing an SF show, weird that they aren't frankly. I only got to see Swell (real Swell, with Freel) twice, good shows.
― I? not I! He! He! HIM! (akm), Wednesday, 22 February 2023 02:23 (one year ago) link
They played Houston sometime in 96. It would have been for Too Many Days Without Thinking.
― Cow_Art, Wednesday, 22 February 2023 02:56 (one year ago) link
Jealous of you guys. I emailed them and heard back from Sean*. He* said the European tour in April is likely the last time they'll play this music.
*The email was written as if by someone who clearly doesn't have perfect English. Sean is from America, right?
― Evan, Wednesday, 22 February 2023 18:36 (one year ago) link
They have a lot of European ties. I know someone in the band or crew was Dutch because they translated my last name for me on the tour w/ mazzy star.
― BrianB, Wednesday, 22 February 2023 19:05 (one year ago) link
sean is def from the US so that must have been from someone involved in booking the tour
― I? not I! He! He! HIM! (akm), Wednesday, 22 February 2023 19:05 (one year ago) link