Although mastermind Dave Freel has been forging new musical paths under the name Swell since 1990, neither I nor many other music fans had much of a clue who he was. A little bit of research revealed the band’s quiet history: A stylistic change in the early nineties, a bout with a major label and a couple songs ("Forget About Jesus", and "Here it Is") that made it to popular radio, then falling out to join the Beggars Banquet label (home of Badly Drawn Boy) in '97. Although their albums were well received by critics and Europeans (via John Peel), they’ve never really been able to make a name for themselves here in America. Maybe it’s their consistently bad cover art that’s fooling people?
Swell has a style that’s easy to recognize, yet hard to put your finger on. They began their career with a country vibe, then moved closer to mature indie rock in the late nineties. Everybody Wants to Know sounds familiar in its catchiness, but its style is completely unique. Solid rock beats and driving bass lines provide the ground for Freel’s fuzzily-distorted guitars to converse in swoops, stabs and trills. Each song uses the same basic building blocks -- gently strummed acoustic guitars, pretty pianos and slight electronic noises -- which helps to keep the disc consistent. For reference, distant ancestors may be Sparklehorse, Califone or Badly Drawn Boy. They relate because Freel, like these other amazing artists, is always able to maintain a cool distance from his creation while at the same time completely engaging the listener.
The album starts off strong, sustaining its ascent until the last four songs. The opener, "This Story", serves as a perfect introduction to Freel’s penchant for bizarre guitar overdubs and insanely catchy choruses. "A Velvet Sun" succeeds despite sounding like a cross between Twin Peaks and Alice and Chains and produced in the '80s, while "Like Poverty" and "East n West" prove that Freel can still pen songs worthy of big time radio (although he fucks with the songs enough to keep them from making it in today’s radio meat market).
Inexplicably, Freel uses almost the exact same beat and guitar riff for the last three songs, "Call Me", "Try Me" and "Feed". Though a bad judgment by most means, the fact that Freel lays down three tracks of near identical smarmy funk grove with a really bad "white-boy with an attitude" rap, makes it all the more infuriating. What was he thinking? Consequently, I walk away from Everybody Wants to Know with a bit of a sour taste in my mouth. Still, other than the last three songs, Everybody Wants to Know is an album you should know about.
