Search - Swell :: Too Many Days Without Thinking

The Sound of Bees

rooster | 03/30/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Like 10-ton truck, cutting through the muck- this cd plays the ambient theme tune from a dozen bees, humming away in your head...There's highs, there's lows. Sometimes they play fast. Sometimes they play slow. And to pick out different songs is when you miss the point. In the middle of the night, there's still no light ...well? if you've never had the heart to slack. If you're too well adjusted to snort crack. If you like your beats to be boiled and baked, and your tunes to invade your head for a few weeks... you've obviously spent too many days without thinking. This is minor in a major way."

Great Band Alert!

kndp1@gte.net | Seattle, Washingotn | 09/25/1998

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Dying to hear a great band? Check out Swell, especially with this album, and the release prior to this, 41. While not as consistently great as 41, Too Many Days Without Thinking does feature a handful of songs which prove satisfying and at times deeply profound. Swell has an instantly recognizable sound in much the same way that Sonic Youth does, so that even when they vary song structures and musical styles, you instantly know you are listening to a Swell song (a pun laying in ambush, evidently). This is evident from the very first second of the propulsive "Throw Back the Wine" which leads to the achingly beautiful "What I Always Wanted," in my mind the first of three truly great songs on this album. The album peaks again with "At Lennie's" and finishes off with the breathtaking coda, "Everyday, Sunshine." Through a brief set of lyrics poetically describing the moment of impact in a car crash and it's immediate aftermath, the song manages to convey the frail grip we have on our own mortalily before allowing it to drift away. This is a band that deserves your attention."

An excellent album by an underpublicized band

johnphayes | Orlando, FL | 09/15/1998

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Swell - who hails from San Francisco, capture some fantastic mood and sound structure to their low key approach. From surfy songs like "Sunshine Everyday", to the hop-skip-jump sound of "F**k Even Flow" (my favorite), to the Church-like sound of "What I Always Wanted", Swell incorporates a low key diversity of sound that is slinks into your mind and soon you are grooving along to their growl. An excellent album."