Customer Reviews

International Rescue [Vinyl]

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

Love the Swell Maps! If you are a fan of authentic UK Punk, then you will love the Swell Maps. Item arrived as expected and in three days of ordering it.

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!

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.

Britain's experimental punk group Swell Maps have a pretty inconsistent output, but if you do a little bit of selective listening, you'll find some amazing tunes.

This compilation culls tracks from all over the place, but snips away much of the more avant-garde, experimental stuff they did, leaving a bunch of straight ahead punk rock-n-rollers. Don't get me wrong - if you're looking for another Clash/Sex Pistols/Damned here, you're not going to find it. This is crash and bang noise, TONS of reverb, some catchy bass, and a lead singer who sounds like he's perpetually bored (although I think that's just his accent). Some songs seem like just filler, but some, like "International Rescue," "Read About Seymour," "Spitfire Parade" (the humming at the end of that song still sends shivers up my spine), "New York," "Forest Fire," are fantastic.

So all in all, some excellent arty punk, but a good deal of filler as well. A good thing to have if you've worn out your copy of Wire's Pink Flag. I just hope they reissue their full albums.