Album Reviews
Following the demise of This Routine Is Hell, these Dutch dudes moved to Berlin and reinvented themselves as a grunge-y kinda band known as Swain. They released their debut full-length “The Long Dark Blue” earlier this month via End Hits Records.
“The Long Dark Blue” comes with 13 tracks that are loud and slightly obnoxious and melodic all at once. It’s a sound they do well. Something you find out right away when opening track “Hold My Head” bursts out of the speakers. “Punk-Rock Messed You Up, Kid” is another scorcher, while “Never Clean My Room” is a little easier on the ears. Equally good though.
Swain may not be doing something you haven’t heard before on “The Long Dark Blue”, but they know their way around a good riff and a catchy melody and ended up with an album that reminded me of a more endearing version of Future Of The Left during its finest moments.
Track listing:
- Hold My Head
- Half Asleep / Half Awake
- Punk-Rock Messed You Up, Kid
- Never Clean My Room
- It's Hard To Make Friends
- Kiss Me Hard
- Faze Me
- Secrets Inside
- Seen a Good Man (In a Bad Mood)
- You're Not Special
- Hoping For It
- It's a Strange Way Down (The Underwater Song)
- Rid Myself Of You
Lacking the talent to actually play in a band, Tom decided he would write about bands instead. Turns out his writing skills are mediocre at best as well.
