Swell Maps - A Trip To Marineville (Album Review)

 

Swell Maps - A Trip To Marineville

(1979)


My copy: 2012 remastered reissue w/ 7” by Secretly Canadian.


Swell Maps began as the project of two British brothers using the aliases of Nikki Sudden and Epic Soundtracks, and just as the British had begun building up punk music, Swell Maps saw fit to contribute to its undoing by becoming one of the first true “post-punk” bands with their 1979 full-length A Trip To Marineville (which was also preceded by a single one year earlier).

Swell Maps (rounded out by Jowe Head and Biggles Books) played a sort of deconstructed version of punk; one that traded ferocity for a sense of humor and a penchant for long sections of cacophonous noise making. “H.S. Art” is a drunken blend of distorted guitar, punchy bass and piano flourishes with cheeky dramatic vocals. Crazed pop energy sets “Another Song” apart from all the other punk songs with dense, messy rhythm guitar that is syncopated against the lead. 

“Vertical Slum” draws from psych with layered vocals and choppy guitar while spacious guitars form valleys on “Spitfire Parade.” The CAN influence becomes readily apparent on “Harmony In Your Bathroom” in which Jowe Head does his best Damo Suzuki impression amidst a wash of thick instrumentals and chaotic sounds that all crash into an infectious chorus. Swell Maps are pop musicians at heart, with the core structures being catchy and calculated. The experimental influence is set to just the right dosage, allowing a wonderfully psychotic style of pop to emerge.  

“Don’t Throw Ashtrays At Me” is an interlude that features a rare yet poignant bit of reflective energy set to the sounds of conversation, harmonica and other clattering. “Midget Submarines” is sharp and precise, and draws attention to choruses by having the bass drop out for most of the rest of the song. The bass takes on a deeper punk edge with “Full Moon In My Pocket” which develops into drawn out growls that set the stage for the next track. “Blam!!” may be one of the top post-punk songs of all time with an amazing bass groove, undeniably fun hooks and impressive layers of instruments that build and stumble over with each passing movement.

“Gunboats” starts off as the slow, quieter track with more psych influence via transcendental echoed guitar experiments before devolving into more noise. “Adventuring Into Basketry” is a non-musical patchwork of drones and haunting feedback before the fog is cleared by bass and primal drumming. The LP proper is capped off by the goofy lo-fi prank of “My Lil’ Shoppes ‘Round The Corner,” but the album continues with four extra tracks that come on an additional 7”. 

“Loin Of The Surf” (it’s written as “Lion” on streaming, but printed on the label as “Loin”) feels like a different band, with pointed prog hammer-on riffs building the most overtly musical track on the record. “Doctor At Cake” is bluesy and powerful before it is abruptly cut short. An attempt is made to take the piss out of Elvis with “Steven Does” while “Bronze And Baby Shoes” caps off the whole adventure with a whirling ambiance of evil bass lines, droning vocals and foreboding noise.

Swell Maps aren’t recognized nearly enough for their bold contributions to the destruction of traditional punk music in the late 70s; they weren’t interested in the same messages as everyone else and they certainly weren’t interested in writing the same boring songs. If it weren’t for the lack of low end in the production coupled with the slightly over-indulgent noise sections A Trip To Marineville would be a near perfect album with a clear view of the more insane side of post-punk (both mistakes would be corrected by their next LP). Give A Trip To Marineville a listen if you want to see what happens when you cross the fury of punk with the colorful imagination of drugged-out psych and prog.

Due to new reissues, this album is easy to get ahold of. 


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