Record Rebound: Swervedriver reissue their classic debut album ‘Raise’
In the late 1980s, the British press coined the term shoegazing to categorise a burgeoning movement in alternative rock music. Thanks to bands like Spacemen 3 and The Jesus and Mary Chain, neo-psychedelia was on the rise; this latest kaleidoscopic injection would be adorned with effect pedals and moody guitarists staring vacantly towards the ground. Today, we’re rebounding to 1991, the peak of shoegaze and the year that bore Raise, the debut album of Oxford-based band Swervedriver.
Releasing this masterpiece debut album in September 1991, Swervedriver put themselves up against the fierce competition exerted by My Bloody Valentine’s Loveless, Slowdive’s Just for a Day, Chapterhouse’s Whirlpool and Blur’s Leisure. Despite such prominent neighbouring releases, not to mention Ride’s classic debut of 1990, Swervedriver carved themselves a bold niche in the mire of swirling, warping guitars.
From the very first track, ‘Sci-Flyer’, Swervedriver stake a claim to the heavier end of the shoegaze spectrum. The genre broadly overlapped with the concurrent dream-pop movement, but Swervedriver stood notably clear of this vast central region on the Venn diagram.
Swervedriver set themselves apart from most of their fellow shoegazers with a heavy, grunge-inspired beat and bold, imposing bass and lead guitar sections. With throbbing, effects-ridden rhythm guitar tracks and Adam Franklin’s angsty, yelping vocals, the sound is complete.
Raise is highlighted by ‘Rave Down’, ‘Son of Mustang Ford’ and ‘Sandblasted’, three tracks that had already graced fans in predating EPs and singles. Perhaps most memorably, ‘Rave Down’ referenced the contemporary rave scene. Complimenting the song’s lack of danceable electro-swing, ‘Rave Down’ depicts a town that’s regrettably missing out on the action.
“Rave down, hit the ground/ Four AM all night hell gas station/ Before we cruise off to the beach/ Where the breeze blows easy and slow/ We hung tight all night and no gig to go to/ There could be something happenin’ here/ But there’s just no place to go/ Your town ain’t lively up no more/ Rave Down,” Franklin sings in the second verse.
Throughout the album, Graham Bonnar, the band’s founding drummer, gives structure to chaos that comes in waves between and within the tracks. In ‘Pile Up’, for instance, the dynamic beat channels the song through chapters of intensity, allowing Franklin a still surface to sing over before the guitar breaks.
Raise bows out to an understated highlight, ‘Lead Me Where You Dare’. The track brings balance to the record as its most restrained and melodic moment. An attractive lead run repeats throughout the song, with a keyboard following the melody at intervals. At the three-minute mark, the music fades out before a brief outro comprised of reverse tape loop sound effects.
On Friday, July 28th, Swervedriver will re-issue this classic debut album on 180g vinyl, a medium favoured by the most pernickety of audiophiles. The limited edition of 1500 individually numbered copies will come complete with an insert and flame-coloured vinyl. The exciting re-issue will be available in selected stores.
Find a store near you on the Music on Vinyl site here.
