WEIRDS - "SWARMCULTURE" ALBUM REVIEW 26TH MAY 2017
- May 26, 2017
- 6 min read
Here it is, the debut release from Leeds psych-grunge four piece WEIRDS! Now let’s start with health and safety precautions……. put down anything valuable or hazardous, make sure there’s nothing in an arms distance circumference from your pulsating body and BUCKLE THE FUCK UP! This isn’t an album to be taken lightly; they’ve grabbed expectations and ripped them to pure shreds right in front of our vulnerably content eyes. With early releases like “Valley Of Vision”, “Phantom” and “Weird Sun” one might imagine that they’d gained a fairly solid presumption about what this record would sound like, right? Well yes, you were probably pretty bang on. What did you have in mind? A kaleidoscopic journey of psychedelic sonic wonderment pierced with intermittent bursts of spine tingling filth and a story line that is, quite frankly, impossible to predict? Something along them lines? Well yeah you’ve got the basic jist but what they’ve achieved here is SO much more than that. After taking an initial listen and then listening again and again and again and again to the point that my brain was about to implode with thoughts about creation theory, consciousness and tangible reality I couldn’t quite believe my ears. For lovers of music, no matter its creed or physical appearance, this album is a sparkling blue water hole in the desert of auditory normality. For us album of the year so far! There we said it. You’re probably sat in your chair rocking backwards, almost spilling that piping hot cup of Tetley on your now moist lap shouting….. “WOAH STEADY ON”. But no, we won’t steady on! We’re firm on our word and once you’ve taken a listen I’m sure you’ll back us to the hills!
It possesses enough depth, integrity and power to wipe you clean off your feet. Opening track “Things That Crawl” is the perfect beginning to this eye-opening journey and instantly gives us a feel for what the rest of this record will sound like. Entering with an eerie riff that would give Kurt Cobain himself the firmest of stonking hard on’s we’re lured into a brick wall of beefy guitar so heavy it has borderline Mastodon tendencies about it. Next up is “Valley Of Vision” the first single from the album, one we’re surely all very familiar with by now! Perfectly situated, this track ensures no tempo is lost. A real showcase piece! Now, WEIRDS have, without doubt, created their own unique sound here, that’s a given. This incredible recipe they’ve got could only have been conjured in the deepest, darkest and spookiest of cauldrons. It’s been matured for several decades at the hand of a hagged old witch with a large thick branch of old maple and finally she’s turned her head to reveal those ghastly features giving us the nod, it’s go time SON! So sure, they’re their own band but any good music has a root source of inspiration and WERIDS have a portfolio larger than Adebayo Akinfenwa’s thighs. “Old World Blues” oozes Queens of the Stoneage desert rock attitude but they’ve manipulated it to fit their agenda. It’s smooth, sexy, wild, untameable you name it this song has it! These guys never shy away from the fact they’re huge fans of Foals. I think I read once in an interview somewhere that one of the band’s first gigs together was Foals back in the day just after the release of that incredible “Total Life Forever” album. It opened their eyes to a world of new music and exploration. “Black Desert” releases this love, with delicate melodies, funky rhythm and lyrical flow. The incredible thing with this song is how they’ve managed to morph this astronomic sound again, like on “Old World Blues”, and throw it into their ever diverse cauldron of sound. Both these tracks are album favourites!
As we reach the back nine holes we stumble into “Crows” a techni-coloured serenade of soft lullabies. This is a moment to reflect on all we’ve heard and been through so far! Despite not being the fastest, most aggressive or adrenaline fueled song of theirs we feel Crows could arguably be the most encapsulating. It’s a colossal piece of music, with the prowess and delicacy of a band that are five albums in head lining the UK’s biggest stages and arena’s. We can see it now a sea of lighters, rain thrashing down in a sodden British field, night has fallen we’re in full montage vid mode now as people smash their heads back and forth. What a beautiful sight that would be, maybe one day! “Salamander Sister”, probably the best song name on the album, it enters with marching drum rolls and softly spoken lyrics before sliding into a brief fuzz drenched vortex which portrays glimmers of a reborn Black Sabbath. So far the back end of this record is showing us more of WERIDS melodic side. Every track seems to have a beautiful, transcendent layer of calming melody. “Tunneling” feels like a track you can really kick back and relax too, it’s diverse in purpose though with pop bounce and head rolling fluidity throughout that you could easily get up and dance about too. I know I’ve said it before but, you can seriously immerse yourself into this track. It’s impossible to pick favourites, every track is bang on the money but I think this one could potentially be a contender to take the crown.
Here we are, we’ve reached the end “Past Life”, time to up the ante again and go out with a huge whopping bang. Straight in they come with a tasty little riff that eventually drops back off to a soft little chug. Contrasting sections seem to be a theme throughout this record; we bounce back and forth between bold thrashes and elegant serenity like ying and yang ballroom dancing through an apocalyptic volcanic eruption. Every corner turned is a road yet unknown. This track ends with raw energy and visceral power before coming to an abrupt, and aptly placed, ending. For fans of WEIRDS you would have already heard “Phantom” and “Weird Sun” these two tracks are crowd favourites after being blasted out on their recent tour with The Wytches. Both feature that, now characteristic, WERIDS sound with space odyssey like psychedelia, dancy pop hooks and spontaneously sharp power. These are clearly two of the albums most notorious dwellers! When you spend most of the review talking about the contents of an album and fail to mention arguably the two ‘biggest’ tracks until right at the end, you know it’s something special. And that’s exactly what ‘Swarmculture’ is, a special record! It’s not only music it’s artwork in its truest, purest and most intricate form. BRAVO guys you’ve absolutely nailed it!
The idea of “Swarmculture” as an album title stemmed from a flock of starlings that bassist Matthew witnessed in the courtyard of the studio they played at. This observation triggered a thought trail into the realms of colonial behaviour and how it transcends to multiple species including us as humans. “It was a very conscious decision to combine the two words to create 'Swarmculture'. It just seemed to encapsulate the world we wanted to create with this record. With the fact that Western culture is swarming towards a populist right, with people blaming others for parts of their lives that they're not happy with, calling for change before they even begin to think about whether the change will be good or not, we felt 'Swarmculture' reflected the world we live in. Everything swarms, whether it be a colony of ants or the corporate conglomerates. We definitely, and will continue to, try to keep music and politics separate but as any type of artist, you are definitely inspired and influenced by what is going on around you” Aidan Razzall, Vocals. You can tell that WEIRDS have fully immersed themselves into the creation of this record, a lot of time and passion has been laboured to create this elegant masterpiece and quite frankly the outcome is absolutely astonishing. Time to kick back and revel in the fruits of your labour guys? Or not…….. the band head out on the road this summer with appearances at several UK festivals so, as always, if you’re heading to any of these GO AND SEE THEM. Support their music, become a fan, spin this album on wax until your blue in the face and weak at the knees. It’ll be one of our personal favourites for years to come.
We had the absolute pleasure of meeting these lovely chaps way back in April for an interview during their set at the intimate Face Bar in Reading. We spoke all things Swarmculture among several other pressing topics like immortality and guilty pleasures. Take a little read of that HERE if you fancy any more juicy gossip from WEIRDS. If not get yourselves out and BUY THIS RECORD, it’s a must have!
You've listen to me spew utter shit at you for the past god knows how long, surely you want to hear it from the horses mouth? Well you're in luck, WEIRDS have put together a stunning track by track video to walk and talk you through the writing and production of "Swarmculture". ENJOY.
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