3 keepers
keeper avg .300 (official album)
I think Swervedriver took a bit of a left turn into Britpop with their third album, starting with the rather generic orchestral instrumental opening track "Single Finger Salute". They try to get all heavy with "Bring Me The Head Of The Fortune Teller," the first real harbinger of things to come; it lacks nearly all of the nuanced layering that makes Swervedriver unique and might as well be by Oasis (even a favorable reviewer wrote and I quote "Otherwise, it could pass as another band to a casual listener"). Each album deserves to be evaluated on its own merit, and it's not a bad thing that "The Other Jesus" is much poppier and catchier than Swervedriver typically is; it does feature Adam Franklin's distinctively melodic guitar accents, though other than that there isn't a lot to the very similar-sounding verses and choruses.
The ferocious but cheery "I Am Superman"**** is the first track that resembles the Swervies of old, with drummer Jez Hindmarsh gleefully channeling Keith Moon and Franklin slashing out clanging chords like a wind-milling Pete Townshend, specifically "I Can See For Miles"(1967). The driving title song**** nudges the tempo and intriguing harmonies of "Blowin' Cool"(1993) towards a little more radio friendly. But the exuberant "How Does It Feel To Look Like Candy?"***** makes no apologies whatsoever for being the most Brit-poppy song ever, quoting Dionne Warwick's "Do You Know the Way to San Jose" as "do you know the way to Santa Fe, Ba badda da da ba ba ba ba da da," while still including all the dense guitars and raucous drumming that shoegaze should.
The rest of the album is fine but mellower and significantly less distinctive, seemingly influenced by other bands at the time like The Verve or Oasis. The mid-tempo "Last Day On Earth," the album's only charting single, is a little bloated with addition of an orchestra. Closing track "The Birds" is energetic and catchy enough but more like a long chorus repeated a lot than a full song. And then there's the obligatory (in the 90's) hidden track "Flaming Heart," perhaps inspired by The Beatles' "Something."
The bonus tracks that are available now don't improve on the album. "Maelstrom" and "The Director's Cut of Your Life" are similar, average mid-tempo album filler (though the former has a nice Beatle-esque ending). "Just Sometimes" is a circular, repetitive trip-hop blurb. "Neon Lights Glow" is similar to that but with the chords from "Rumble" (Link Wray, 1958) and a prancing string section, extending for almost 8-minutes, ugh.
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