4 keepers
keeper avg .363
Being the last 90's Swervedriver album before the long break (until 2015) and following the disappointing (to me) Ejector Seat Reservation, I wasn't anticipating their best. Though there's no "Son of Mustang Ford" or "Last Train to Satansville" badassery to wow me, it has some nice surprises. The title song****, a pleasant skipping trip like a smoothed-out "Sandblasted", and "Up from the Sea"*****, its strange, angular riff restated throughout in different forms as punctuation, provide a satisfying opening one-two punch. Another rewarding song pair, "Electric 77"**** and "Stellar Caprice"****, holds the center of the album (though I saw one review hate on them viciously). "Electric 77" is a descendant of "Strawberry Fields" (or Radiohead "Just") with a similar leisurely tempo but interesting, unexpected changes; it's too long at 7:35 but with its cool swirling coda it doesn't seem like it. "Stellar Caprice" is its spacy accompanying instrumental, with exotic sonic effects as well as melodies (strange that the line "Stellar Caprice in flames" actually appears in the previous song).
A few songs see the less than awesome results of incorporating more poppy influences, such as Blur and Oasis. The album's two singles, "These Times" and "Wrong Treats," are notably similar to those brothers, especially Adam Franklin's whiny vocal on the former (for the love of God why?). "She Weaves a Tender Trap" is a non-descript Blur-like Britpop ballad. And the repetitive "You've Sealed My Fate" (uh huh) and "In My Time" are catchy enough jingles but not baked nearly enough to call them songs. The album closes with the lengthy "Behind the Scenes of the Sounds & the Times;" for two-minutes it's the "blast-off" part of Sonic Youth's "Teenage Riot," before transitioning into something more Britpop like Blur. But even when the band's distinctive style is diminished somewhat Franklin's nimble melodic touches are as unmistakable as his singular Jazzmaster sound, saving even the least stellar composition from being truly generic.
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