David Freel of Swell has been creating gentle, intoxicating, swirling music from his base in San Francisco since the early '90s. Although critics like to contrast his sound with the stuttering slacker charm of followers Grandaddy and Elliott Smith, Swell is somewhat more refined. The title track is a subtle brooding anthem, while the instrumental, "I Don't Think So," is reminiscent of the ecstatic experimentation of Flying Saucer Attack from Bristol, England. "Bored and crazy / Everything was maybe / Let's take a different point of view," Freel sings on the self-immolating, Sebadoh-esque "I Like Poverty." Indeed. --Jerry Thackray
Review by Rick Anderson
The sixth album by Swell is actually a solo effort by longtime bandleader David Freel, who claims to enjoy playing with a band onstage but prefers recording alone in the studio. (He's joined on just over half of these songs by drummer Rey Washam.) The resulting sound is strange, moody guitar pop with hooks that take you by surprise because the music doesn't sound like it ought to have hooks -- the jagged found-sound sampling on "...A Velvet Sun" gives way to a melancholy chorus that might be a vague tribute to the Police's "Invisible Sun," and the very strange shards of mistreated guitar that start off "Like Poverty" lead into a downright fruity chord progression and a shimmery sing-along refrain. Throughout this album Freel flirts with annoying self-absorption, but repeatedly saves himself by virtue of pure musical invention; instead of constantly begging you to listen to his problems he keeps distracting you from them even as he unburdens himself. Recommended.
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