The Swell Maps' 1979 debut is frantic, explosive and one of the last great punk records of the '70s. The group's freaky impulses and willingness to dive into aspects of pop, Krautrock and whatever weirdness that they saw fit make this record sound eternally fresh. Anyone with an interest in art/punk guitar pop needs to get into this album. Art Another Song Vertical Slum Spitfire Parade Harmony In Your Bathroom Don't Throw Ashtrays At Me! Midget Submarine Bridge Head (Pt. 9) Full Moon In My Pocket Blam!! Full Moon (Reprise) Gunboats Adventuring Into Basketry My Lil' Shoppes 'Round The Corner Loin Of The Surf Doctor At Cake Steven Does Bronze And Baby Shoes This is a new, unopened CD in its original packaging. UK, Original Pressing. Grading Scale:We visually grade with Goldmine Standards unless otherwise noted.
Preview, buy and download high-quality music downloads of A Trip to Marineville by Swell Maps from 7digital United Kingdom - We have over 30 million high quality tracks in our store. 17 Loin of the Surf. Loin of the Surf. 18 Shoot the Angels. Shoot the Angels. 19 Elephant Flowers (No.2) Elephant Flowers (No.2) 1.
| Origin | Birmingham, England |
|---|---|
| Genres | Punk rock, experimental rock, post-punk |
| Years active | 1972–1980 |
| Labels | Rather Records, Rough Trade, Mute |
| Associated acts | Jacobites, Crime & the City Solution, Phones Sportsman Band |
| Past members | Epic Soundtracks Nikki Sudden Jowe Head Biggles Books (Richard Scaldwell) Phones Sportsman (David Barrington) Golden Cockrill (John Cockrill) |
Swell Maps were an English experimental DIY, early post-punk rock group from Birmingham, England who were active between 1972–1980.
History[edit]
Influenced by bands such as T. Rex and the Germankrautrock group Can,[1] they created a new soundscape that would be heavily mined by others in the post-punk era. Despite existing in various forms since 1972, Swell Maps only really came together as a musical entity after the birth of British punk.[2]
The band consisted of Solihull based teenagers Epic Soundtracks (real name Kevin Paul Godfrey), his brother Nikki Sudden (real name Adrian Nicholas Godfrey), Jowe Head (Stephen Bird), Biggles Books (Richard Scaldwell), Phones Sportsman (David Barrington) and John 'Golden' Cockrill, the band cut the single 'Read About Seymour' as their debut in 1977. It is widely considered one of the classic punk era singles,[3] and is name-checked in the song 'Part Time Punks' by Television Personalities.[4]
After recording their first John Peelsession Swell Maps went into WMRS studio to record their first album A Trip to Marineville, which was released in 1979. In 2007, The Guardian wrote of the album that it 'combined furious punk noise-outs such as HS Art with ambient instrumentals and other experimental interludes such as Gunboats.'[5] They recorded a second album, The Swell Maps in 'Jane From Occupied Europe', in 1980.
The band performed abroad for the first time in Belgium and the Netherlands, then toured Italy before splitting up in April 1980. An album of archive recordings, Whatever Happens Next..., was released shortly afterwards.
Side projects[edit]
The band backed Steve Treatment on an EP, released on their own Rather Records label in 1978. They also backed The Cult Figures on a single 'Zip Nolan', released on the Rough Trade label in 1979.An EP of experimental tracks of the band backing Phones Sportsman was released under the name of the Phones Sportsman Band in 1980.
Post split[edit]
Epic and Jowe released a single, 'Rain, Rain, Rain', with Rough Trade Records under the name Soundtracks and Head,[6] but the album recorded at the same sessions remains unreleased so far.Individual members of the band (especially Nikki Sudden, Epic Soundtracks and Jowe Head) went on to solo careers. The band's catalogue has been remastered and reissued, and several compilations of archive recordings released.
Epic Soundtracks died of unknown causes at the age of 38 in 1997,[7] and Nikki Sudden died at the age of 49 in March 2006, in a hotel room in New York City.[8]
Influence[edit]
Swell Maps have been cited as an influence by bands including Dinosaur Jr., R.E.M., Nirvana and Pavement.[9]Thurston Moore from Sonic Youth acknowledged the influence of the Swell Maps in 1981, writing 'As soon as that Nikki Sudden guitar comes slicing slabbing and all out fuzzifying off that crackling vinyl groove you know you’re gonna rock. It’s the best of both whirls: fist-in-the-heart guitar burnin’ rock and ahead-of-its-time songsmith awareness ... The Swell Maps had a lot to do with my upbringing'.[10]Scott Kannberg of Pavement acknowledged 'Swell Maps was a big influence on our early records ... they had these songs they fucked up somehow to make sound really dirty and low frequency, but they had these great songs underneath all this mess'.[11]Tim Gane of Stereolab recalled 'When I first bought A Trip to Marineville I must have played it a hundred times or more, just to listen to every single second of it'.[10] Other notable bands to name them an influence include Cornershop,[12]The Pastels,[13] and Deerhunter.[14]
Discography[edit]
Studio Albums[edit]
- A Trip to Marineville (July 1979)
- Jane From Occupied Europe (1980)
Compilations[edit]
- Whatever Happens Next... (1981)
- Collision Time (1981)
- Train Out of It (Antar 1986)
- Collision Time Revisited (1989)
- International Rescue (1999)[15]
- Sweep The Desert (2000)
- Wastrels and Whippersnappers (2006)[16]
Singles[edit]
- 'Read About Seymour' (1977)
- 'Dresden Style' (1978)
- 'Real Shocks' (1979)
- 'Let's Build a Car' (1979)
Discography
References[edit]
- ^Tangari, Joe (22 November 2004). 'Swell Maps: A Trip to Marineville / Jane From Occupied Europe'. Pitchfork. Retrieved 8 April 2019.
- ^Ankeny, Jason. 'Swell Maps - Biography & History'. AllMusic. Retrieved 8 April 2019.
- ^Llewellyn Smith, Caspar (18 February 2006). 'Don't know what I want...'The Guardian. Retrieved 24 August 2017.
- ^'Then they go to Rough Trade
To buy Siouxsie and the Banshees
They heard John Peel play it
Just the other night
They'd like to buy the O Level single
or Read about Seymour
But they're not pressed in red
So they buy The Lurkers instead'
- 'Part Time Punks' - Television Personalities. - ^'1000 Albums to Hear Before You Die'. The Guardian. 23 November 2007. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
- ^Henderson, Dave. 'The Jowe Head Top 20'. Fire Records. Retrieved 11 October 2020
- ^'Epic Soundtracks Found Dead'. Rolling Stone. 25 November 1997. Retrieved 8 April 2019.
- ^Martin, Douglas (29 March 2006). 'Nikki Sudden, Punk Rocker, Dies at 49'. The New York Times. Retrieved 8 April 2019.
- ^Neate 1995
- ^ abSarig 1998, p. 245
- ^Sarig 1998, p. 244
- ^[1]
- ^Freeman, John. 'Stephen McRobbie Of The Pastels' Favourite Albums'. The Quietus, 3 June 2013. Retrieved 11 October 2020
- ^[2]
- ^Ott, Chris (20 April 1999). 'Swell Maps: International Rescue'. Pitchfork. Archived from the original on 18 March 2009. Retrieved 8 April 2019.
- ^Tangari, Joe (13 July 2006). 'Swell Maps: Wastrels and Whippersnappers'. Pitchfork. Retrieved 8 April 2019.
Bibliography[edit]
- Neate, Wilson (1995), 'Swell Maps: Sweep the Desert', PopMatters, archived from the original on 8 March 2016, retrieved 5 February 2012
- Sarig, Roni (1998), 'Swell Maps', Secret History of Rock: The Most Influential Bands You've Never Heard, New York: Billboard Books, pp. 244–246, ISBN0-8230-7669-5
External links[edit]
Wikipedia
- Swell Maps discography at Discogs
Swell Maps Loin Of The Surface Area