Swell Maps
I’m extremely excited to post todays group, they may be one of the most interesting and influential rock groups in history. Swell Maps were a British experimental rock group of the 1970s from Birmingham, that foreshadowed the birth of post-punk. They created a new soundscape that would be heavily mined by others in the post-punk era. Over the eight years that the band was together they only released two full length albums, A Trip To Marineville (1979) and In “Jane From Occupied Europe” (1980). The first album I heard by the group was In”Jane From Occupied Europe”. When I first heard it, I didn’t really know what to think. It seemed very unorganized and almost too noisy for its time, but for some reason I couldn’t get it out of my head. The first three songs, “Robot Factory”, “Lets Buy A Bridge” and “Boarder Country” are all a totally different style, extremely catchy and they seem to flow perfectly together. The whole album is this way, filled with many different styles, ranging from noise, punk, ballads. etc. At random times, I find this album just running through my head. This group knew how to make an album with everything in it. I haven’t heard all of “A Trip To Marineville” but from what I have heard, I think it may be even better than their second album. Swell Maps may not be everyones cup of tea but they are definitely worth giving a shot.
Listen and enjoy!
-Cody, Logan & Jeff
Swell Maps
