Published on Dec 19, 1999
I gotta admit, this is one of the more interesting albums I have
listened to lately.
Swoon is a peaceful listen, and at first, I was at the edge
of my seat waiting to hear what was about to spill out of the
speakers next. Swoon achieved a pretty peaceful, airy sound on this
album. This is a good album to throw on as background music at a
busy party where people like this somewhat hazy, drugged out
sound.
Despite these accolades, I really can’t recommend this disk.
First, this is a horrible recording. The overall sound is muddled,
and the vocals are almost impossible to understand throughout. It’s
too bad, because that’s this album’s main fault. You can’t blame
the band, but you can’t expect anyone to plunk down hard earned
dollars for an album that sounds like it’s been recorded on wax
either.
Another negative: Once you’ve listened to a few of these songs,
you’ll notice that they all really sound the same. I admit, this
argument can be made against any album that’s ever been recorded,
but after several listens, it’s true. The overall slow pace of this
album doesn’t help this fact much. It drags toward the end. Also,
guitarist Joe Stover revisits the same tremolo fade over and over.
I kept asking myself, “Which song is this again?” It’s hard to tell
sometimes, the pace is consistent throughout the album, and there
isn’t much to the Swoon guitar attack.
While not a great album, Swoon sound at times like they’re ready
to turn the corner and crank out some great stuff. Unfortunately,
it doesn’t take place here. This album isn’t a total bust — it
achieves an interesting sound. That’s all though. This album is
recommended only to the innately curious, or the total music
nut.