The Wild Swans - 'Incandescent' (2CD's) (Renascent)
3/5
By: Matt Tomiak
A cult, late-80s Scouse troupe based around ex-members of The Teardrop Explodes alongside various occasional contributors (Lightning Seed Ian Broudie, one such associate), this 2-CD retrospective bears all the hallmarks of the indie bands of the era.
You know the deal - grandiose arrangements, fustian wordplay, a proclivity to pose for dusky band photos dressed all in black, brandishing a well-worn copy of 'Wuthering Heights' and looking 'deep'.
Whilst undoubtedly a treat for those who experienced it all first time, the Swans' sound - think Morrissey's even camper younger brother, fronting classic Joy Division - does to the newcomer tend to resemble a watered-down version of more established bands, although leader Paul Simpson's tremulous vocal does retain a certain power.
The predictably hyperbolic sleeve-notes match the grandiose lyrical-themes (with typical understatement, 'Opium' opens with the lines 'What blessed thing/stirs me from my slumbers?') that, at times, are so unrelentingly self-serious they make early U2 resemble Wheatus. But in the rousing 'The Revolutionary Spirit', they gleam, let alone the stirringly romantic vision of Albion in 'Flowers of England'; now, there's a superior retro track that could have been re-recorded as our 'official anthem' in Euro 2004.
Artists in this article: The Wild Swans
Your Feedback
Login to post your comment