The Swells
Slept for Seven Days (Calgary)
Though still firmly ensconced in the lilting spiral of late-Eighties British dream pop, Slept for Seven Days finds the Swells trying on a grab bag of stylistic variations with varying degrees of success. This compromises cohesion, but it also keeps things interesting. “Driver’s Song” leads off with a wistful guitar weave accented by prog-leaning synth blips, while the odd lyrical tangent and jutting sonic sweep of “Bad Jacketing” wouldn’t have been out of place on a 10cc album. The psychedelic folk warble of “Matter of Me” is hampered by overpreciousness, but guitarist/vocalist David Malerba’s metronome-driven acoustic turn on “Morning Bird” is remarkably beatific. Following that up with the high-energy sunshine pop of “Riverwide” makes for a high-caliber, one-two punch. The second half of Slept for Seven Days is less focused and more atmospheric. The piled-on synthesized accoutrements on “Love Me Like Your Own” and the skitter-clip fuzz of “Cosmetic Gestures” ultimately sound more experimental than efficient, but the faraway echo of “Come to Me Now” is custom-made for an indie filmmaker looking to cap the apex of a romantic narrative. Even if they don’t land every jump, give the Swells credit for ducking the straitjacket of genre convention.
This article appears in August 11 • 2006.
