Trip to Marineville

Swell Maps | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 19, 2004)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Secretly Canadian
• ASIN: B0002ZDWSA
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #119,175 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Noisy and experimental, Britain's Swell Maps experienced little commercial success during the course of their chaotic career, but in hindsight they stand as one of the pivotal acts of the new wave: not only was the group an acknowledged inspiration to the likes of Sonic Youth and Pavement, but their alumni – most notably brothers Nikki Sudden and Epic Soundtracks – continued on as key players in the underground music community.

Although Sudden (vocals/guitar) and Soundtracks (piano/drums) formed the first incarnation of the Swell Maps as far back as 1972, the group did not begin to truly take shape until 1976, when the siblings enlisted bassist Jowe Head and guitarist Richard Earl. In the spirit of punk's "do-it-yourself" mentality, they formed their own label, Rather Records, and issued their debut single – the brief, jarring Read About Seymour – in the early weeks of 1978. Local media support soon won the group a distribution pact with – but they did not resurface until over a year later with the single Dresden Style.

In mid-1979, the Swell Maps released their full-length debut A Trip To Marineville, a crazy quilt of punk energy and Krautrock-influenced clatter. After the release of the speaker-shredding single "Let's Build A Car," the group recorded one final studio LP, Jane From Occupied Europe, before breaking up. Each of the members followed their own career paths, playing solo and forming bands: Sudden formed the Jacobites, Soundtracks joined Crime & The City Solution and Head played with the Television Personalities.

Each disc contains bonus tracks not available on previous versions of these albums.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Early Post Punk Classic, May 8, 2005

By 

Eraserhead (Twin Peaks) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Trip to Marineville (Audio CD)

The debut album from Britain's Swell Maps was completely different from anything being recorded in the late 70's. Swell Maps had been around for quite some time before actually going into the studio to record their debut, but you can't really tell since the album is a chaotic mess from beginning to end (in a good way). But it does feature two distinct halves. The first side consists mostly of short punk songs that match up considerbly well with pretty much any of the other pre-eminate punk bands of the era. This is where you will find very catchy numbers like 'Another Song' and 'Midget Submarine'.

But the second side is where you get to the seminal and groundbreaking Swell Map style that influenced countless bands including Sonic Youth and DNA (not to mention the entire no-wave genre). The music on the second half can basically be described as sprawling, feedback-laden jams, especially the two 8 minute centerpieces 'Gunboats' and 'Adventuring Into Basketry', both of which reveal Swell Maps' obsession with Krautrockers Can. By the end of the album, it is difficult to beleive that these songs came from the same band that kicked out the 1 minute punk blast 'Vertical Slum' just 40 minutes earlier. Yet therein lies the greatness of not only this album, but of this band. They were simply not content with churning out the same old 3 minute punk song (which they do quite well). They continued to push the envelope as far as they could and ended up creating brand new avenues for not only themselves, but for others to explore.

As bonus tracks, Secretly Canadian has included the entire 4 track EP that accumpanied the original 'Marineville' LP. Swell Maps second (and final) album, 'Jane From Occupied Europe' is equally brilliant and no less essential, but I recommend beginning with 'A Trip to Marineville' for the originality and sheer influence it has left in its wake.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I've got a full moon in my tail light..., June 5, 2007

By 

whataworld (San Diego, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Trip to Marineville (Audio CD)

So I'm listening to this and suddenly I feel like my day has a soundtrack and this song is the prelude to a chase scene. Oddly atonal stuff is perfect for minding my own, not paying too much attencion to the background until a great song full of energy pops on and its time to jump around for a bit. Am I doing a good job selling this cd to you? Don't care really. If yer into this kind of thing, yer gonna buy it so don't let me slow you up.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Now that's a swell map !, April 14, 2008

By 

Snowballthrower (Lake Tahoe) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Trip to Marineville (Audio CD)

I lived outside Cambridge UK from 77 - 80, moving there at the age of 22. I hopped into the "punk" scene with both feet. It was THE rock and roll circus. I spent my paychecks on 7 inch vinyl, hashish, and live shows. I picked up Swell Maps "Read About Seymour" in 77 or 78 and thought "Huh, this is different". I went on to get "Dresden" and "Build a Car". Whenever I got tired or deaf from listening to the likes of the Damned, Ruts, Jam or whoever, I'd put on "Build A Car" and it always made sense. It made me smirk at everything else because these blokes could pull it off like this. Television Personalities, O Level, and Steve Treatment were also walking outside and above some of my favorites like the Newtown Neurotics, UK Decay, and The Fall. I wasn't sure I needed a full length by Swell Maps when "Marineville" came out and never ran across it again, till recently. I was wrong for 28 years. Yeah, thousands of records and CDs later I came across this again and bought it. I sat stunned with glee at both it's authenticity and genius as well as my ignorance. There's still something out there for us.