Swallows

Songs For Strippers (and other professions)

(Swallow The Music)

Record Review by Marcel Feldmar

Some fairly straight up rock and roll here, touching at times on the edge of the Replacements, but somewhat darker in tone.  There are little hits of folk and blues that wind in with the rhythms, keeping the songs from becoming to clichéd, and instrumentations that pull it out from the pile of what you’ve heard before. The moody cello swooning through “I Won’t Let You Down”. These songs are tied to cities and their streets.

Sometimes feeling East Coast in direction, with that raw New York rock sound, but sometimes it crosses the country and slides in with memories of the slight jam band moments you would find in the early sounds of those Seattle grunge ballads.

There are little hits of sounds that take the band and their songs into a more current time, a little post-indie guitar twang that breaks into a gritty vocal line that brings to mind Tom Waits, or probably a little more accurately, Mr. Waits long time acquaintance, Chuck E. Weiss. Off kilter piano hits bring in some points of pleasure, and the appearance of frantic mandolin helps take the album into more interesting areas.

This is definitely an album that you need to let play. If you just listen to the first song and give up, you’re going to miss something that could be very important.