Good Lord! It's Back in Print!
JOHN M. | 06/19/1999
(5 out of 5 stars)
"The most fiendishly cruel joke perpetrated on pop music in the last couple decades. Alt-rock kids, here's a good reason to get a credit card."
My jaw dropped
09/08/1999
(5 out of 5 stars)
"While (almost) everyone was listening to The Clash, Sex Pistols and the Damned, very few people were listening to the Swell Maps in the late-70s and that's a shame (I am guilty of this). This disc collects material from their releases (like In Jane from Occupied Territory, Trip to Marineville) and so it's a good intro to the group's work. Like the Soft Boys, the Swell Maps were not appreciated during their time and were overshadowed by others like the Clash - this CD is a chance to hear the direction that punk/post-punk music should have taken. The music is hard, fast, sloppy, melodic yet chaotic, without the pretentious polish and posturing of the tripe that followed the 1977 punk explosion. The more you listen to this disc, the more you'll realize that much of what is being offered and marketed as "punk" on the radio/video TV today is crap (if you didn't know that already). The music on this disc is about 20 years old, but it sounds refreshing to me. Group members Nikki Sudden and Epic Soundtracks both had interesting and important post-Swell Maps solo careers."
Swell maps...what are these tracks? thery're great.
JOHN M. | BALTIMORE | 10/15/1999
(4 out of 5 stars)
"When you listen to Swell Maps the mind takes you back a long way. This bunch of songs confirms the Swell Maps as one of the better bands from that wave of punk. Sure, they may have started out glam, but Swell Maps went down a different route. The songs here I was not familiar with except the singles "Read About Seymour," "Dresden Style." Some the tunes especially "International...," and "New York" are classic barn-burners. This cd reminds you that few bands make music like this anymore; and back then the Swell Maps were one of the few to do it with excitement, energy, and humor. Let's all keep our fingers crossed that this collection is but the counterpoint to future reissues of the classic albums "Jane from Occupied Europe," and "A Trip to Marineville." Swell Maps are a band which ranks right up there...and they deserved to be heard. Enjoy!"
Track Listings (20) - Disc #1
