Album Review
Swearin’ - Fall Into The Sun
4 StarsThe best Swearin’ record yet.
Compositionally, the music that’s been keeping Allison Crutchfield busy in the five years since the last Swearin’ record wasn’t far removed from what we’d come to expect from her. Last year’s solo debut, ‘Tourist in This Town’, came complete with uplifting hooks for days, vocals that sounded like a rougher, slightly less honeyed version of her twin sister Katie’s, and a sharp ear for melody. What was different, though, was the palette she was painting with, both on ‘Tourist in This Town’ and the stark EP ‘Lean In to It’; buzzy synths replaced scuzzy guitars for the most part.
On the back of both Allison’s work with Katie in P.S. Eliot and the first two Swearin’ albums - particularly the stellar second, ‘Surfing Strange’ - we’ve become used to hearing her voice - in both literal and thematic terms - set against raw rock backdrops, and as accomplished as ‘Tourist in This Town’ was, there’s something almost cathartic about hearing her back in her natural habitat.
A year on the road with Katie in the touring band for Waxahatchee’s noisiest record yet, ‘Out in the Storm’, have helped preserve her rock chops, but it’s how comfortably she and bandmate Kyle Gilbride have settled back into the old dynamic that’s most impressive. Eighteen months ago, she confirmed that the collapse of their romantic relationship meant that the band were finished, but time has clearly healed old wounds; ‘Fall Into the Sun’ feels like a genuine collaboration between the pair.
They split vocal duties; Allison’s tracks are, typically, piercingly personal, from the delicate opener ‘Big Change’, which chronicles her move from Philadelphia to Los Angeles, to the nerve-ridden urgency of road anthem ‘Grow Into a Ghost’. Kyle, meanwhile, does some reflection of his own; the languid ‘Dogpile’ is an ode to a fork in the road, while there’s a markedly grown-up quality to the angst he channels on ‘Stabilize’ and ‘Treading’. Musically, the band again take their cues from the nineties likes of Superchunk and Sebadoh, and they do it with real verve. ‘Fall Into the Sun’ is the best Swearin’ record yet; that Allison and Kyle have not just reformed the band, but actually brought the creative best out of each other in doing so, is a powerful advert for reconciliation.
Read More
Swearin’ share new track ‘Untitled (LA)’
The trio's new album 'Fall Into The Sun' is out in October via Merge.
13th August 2018, 12:00am
Swearin’ return with details of new album ‘Fall Into The Sun’
The record - out in October via Merge - is being previewed by first single 'Grow Into A Ghost'.
24th July 2018, 12:00am
Swearin’ are back for 2018 North American shows
The band, who originally broke up in 2015, are supporting Superchunk in the US next year!
9th November 2017, 12:00am
Allison Crutchfield of Swearin’ details debut solo album ‘Tourist In This Town’
Released via Merge, the album's being previewed by single 'Dean's Room'.
24th October 2016, 12:00am
With Bob Vylan, St Vincent, girl in red, Lizzy McAlpine and more.