The Sw!ms

Ride of the Blueberry Winter

(Prison Jazz)

Record Review by Amber Henson

The exclamation point in “The Sw!ms” says it all:  this is a band you should be excited about.  Their new 16-track album is begging you to give it 45 minutes of your time.  Every song has a different feel to it, so it’s hard to name a mainstream band that they particularly sound like, although one could make the connections of Apples in Stereo and Fountains of Wayne.  Ride of the Blueberry Winter is definitely reminiscent of the big power pop albums from the late ‘70s and ‘80s, sometimes even traveling back to the ‘60s.  They’re an energetic, throwback power pop band.  There are some songs that are lyricless and twenty seconds long, and other songs that qualify as ballads, clocking in at almost six minutes.

The album starts out with “Cinoff It,” a kitschy, ‘60s pop riff in the vein of the B-52s.  They seem to employ all their fancy equipment in this song, including Arfisa and Hammond organs, Moog and Korg synthesizers, Rhodes piano, and a theremin, all done by the same man, Phillip Price.  The album closes with “Upstate Milkmaid,” a song that sounds like a decade later.  The song is strongly influenced by a backwards guitar and is reminiscent of the MC5.

This is a classic party album.  I would be hard pressed to find someone who didn’t like this album.  Most people, given a drink in their hands and a dance floor full of people, would not be able to stop themselves from bopping along to The Sw!ms.