Swell Map C21 – Mos Club, Hackney, London 15.3.24
when you read it Swell map I couldn't believe my eyes, especially since the Epic Soundtrack (aka Kevin Paul Godfrey) and Nicky Saddon (aka Adrian Nicholas Godfrey) are deceased and are no longer available forever. Then I looked again and saw that they were playing like this: Swell map C21. ah! So it's not the original band, but the 21st century version of it. But when I saw Luke Haynes in the lineup, I knew this was going to be something really special.
Original band stalwart Joe Head (aka Stephen Bird) plays guitar, vocals, and occasional bass. The aforementioned Mr. Haynes (leader of The Auteurs, Baader Meinhoff, and Black Box Recorder) is in charge of guitar and vocals. Dave Callahan of The Wolfhounds plays guitar and occasional bass. Lee McFadden of Alternative TV and The Television His Personalities, among others, plays bass and occasional guitar. Chloe Herrington is an accomplished musician who completed her BMu at Goldsmiths University and specializes in melodica and synthesizer. But while her musical arsenal also includes bassoon and saxophone, she won't be playing those particular instruments tonight. Her keyboardist is Lucy Leishultova, who has played with Arthur Brown and others. Finally, behind the drums is television personality Jeff Bloom. So overall, this is a very good lineup.
The important thing to remember about Swell Maps is that they were relatively short-lived in the beginning, and their recording career was also very short-lived.Formed in 1972, their debut single was “Read about Seymour” They subsequently released two albums.“Journey to Marineville” (1979) and “Jane from Occupied Europe” (1980) and then disbanded in April of the year when their second album was released. However, during this period they were very prolific in terms of the material they recorded, and the compilation albums released after the band's disbandment included many never-before-heard songs.
As a result, today's bands now have a wide range of material to choose from when planning their setlists. There are old favorites, of course, but there are also some really deep cuts to choose from. The Swell Maps records also featured some really weird and wonderful sounds that I always wondered how they came about. You'll find out tonight!
There's no cheering tonight, so it's just the main event. The opening song is 'wireless', It's a piano-led prelude, accompanied by what sounds like radio interference, which is exactly what Chloe is holding up to the microphone with an untuned transistor radio. Shortly after this, Joee announces his first surprise of the night. 'Lucifer' As a new song. I think he's joking. However, when he tried to track down the song, he found no trace of it on the internet. So he must have been serious. All in all, it blends perfectly with the rest of Swell Maps' material and is really great. I hope it gets released at some point, unless it's already been released and I missed it.
Incredibly, Joe Head is now 68 years old and some of the remaining members of the band aren't exactly spring chickens, but that doesn't prevent them from essaying the next version. “International Relief” It's energized and some! The musicality on display tonight exceeds that shown on Swell His Maps' original two albums. But tonight's musician is far more experienced than his 1979 or his 1980 swell map.
“Jelly Babies” The 1981 single by Epic Soundtracks is piano-driven, which was a bit unexpected. Jowe Head said he had just released an album he recorded with Epic in 1981. “Jelly Babies” Maybe it's on top of that.Albums may or may not have a title “Da-da-da-da-da.” “Helicopter Spy” There is an interesting piano and melodica coda. “Bronze & Baby Shoes” from “Journey to Marineville” It has a blues-influenced chord sequence, which is very unusual for Maps (can I call it Maps?). The dual lead guitars of Joe Head and Dave Callahan are also featured, which is very impressive.single “Let's make a car” Since 1979, Dave has been the lead vocalist, referring to the lyrics card. But with 23 songs in tonight's set, there's a lot to remember, so I can forgive that. Also, many of these songs are far from simple, so that's a challenge as well.
I mentioned earlier the weird and wonderful sounds that maps make.meanwhile “Let's make a car” Dave is sliding a metal water bottle up and down the strings, and Joe is doing the same with a slide. No guitarist uses that many pedals. Most of the sound effects are created manually. They're a really great live band, tight and raw at the same time, but that's not an easy feat to achieve.
The main set ends with “Blame it!!” encounter “Full Moon (Reprise)” It doesn't take that long for the band to leave, and when they come back we'll get back on track (Joe: “Tune-up isn't really punk rock, is it? ”).To close it would look like this “Don't Throw Ashtrays!”, “Mini Submarine”, “Read About Seymour” and 'Cake shop'. 4 encores! There aren't many bands that do that. I feel like if it wasn't for the 10pm curfew, the band would have continued. This was a really great live performance. There's really nothing to fault. Great playing, great material, what's not to like? After the gig, I asked Dave Callahan if he had any future gigs planned. “not yet” came the reply. Now, you better start making plans!
Swell map C21:
Jowe Head – guitar, vocals, and sometimes bass
Luke Haynes – guitar and vocals
Dave Callahan – guitar, vocals, and sometimes bass
Lee McFadden – bass, occasional guitarist
Chloe Herrington – melodica and synthesizer
Lucie Rejchrtova – keyboards and backing vocals
Jeff Bloom – drums
Swell map set list:
1. 'wireless'
2. 'Lucifer' (new song)
3. “International Relief” (Since 1999 “International Relief” compilation album)
Four. “Harmony in the bathroom” (Since 1979 “Journey to Marineville” album)
Five. “Secret Island” (Since 1980 “Jane from Occupied Europe” album)
6. “Bandits One Five” (Since 1981 “Whatever happens next.” compilation album)
7. “Jelly Babies” (From Epic Soundtracks' 1981 single)
8. “Helicopter Spy” (Since 1980 “Jane from Occupied Europe” album)
9. “Raincoat room” (Since 1980 “Jane from Occupied Europe” album)
Ten. “Bronze & Baby Shoes” (Since 1979 “Journey to Marineville” album)
11. “Big empty field” (after 1980)Jane from occupied Europe album)
12. “Let's make a car” (1980 single)
13. “Real Shock” (1979 single)
14. “Whatever happens next.” (Since 1980 “Jane from Occupied Europe” album)
15. “Rubber Wedding” (Unidentified, unpublished?)
16. “Vertical takeoff and landing” (Unidentified, unpublished?)
17. “Slum” (Unidentified, unpublished?)
18. “Bram!!” (Since 1979 “Journey to Marineville” album)
19. “Full Moon (Reprise)” (Since 1979 “Journey to Marineville” album)
(Encore)
20. “Please don't throw the ashtray at me.” (Since 1979 “Journey to Marineville” album)
twenty one. “Small submarine” (Since 1979 “Journey to Marineville” album)
twenty two. “Read about Seymour” (1978 single)
twenty three. 'Cake shop' (Since 1980 “Jane from Occupied Europe” album)
swellmap.org