Southern California label RidingEasy Records proudly announces the signing today of Swedish trio Svvamp to the roster. Hear and please share the first track from the band's forthcoming self-titled debut, "Burning Down" via YouTube.
Swedish trio Svvamp
is the real deal. Countless bands today strive to sound genuine --
whether faking their way through a ProTools pastiche of carefully
assembled takes, painstakingly tarnishing tracks to give them a "live
feel" or simply copying the style of their favorite band. And, usually,
their posturing is entirely transparent.
Every once in a while
though, you find a band without self-conscious pretense that truly
echoes the mood and vibe of an era when the rulebooks were burned with
the draft cards and the act of playing rock'n'roll was simultaneously
defiant and inherently casual. Svvamp is just that type of primordial
beauty captured on a perfect 11-song debut.
Svvamp was created by
three friends - Adam Johansson, Henrik Bjorklund and Erik Stahlgren -
drawn together for the sake of jamming and a love of rock, folk and
blues. Their resulting heavy psych sound is immediately gripping in its
homespun feel and hints of Cream, Eric Bell-era Thin Lizzy, CCR and Crazy Horse.
"Our first recordings
were made on a 4-channel cassette PortaPro (with microphones that we
found lying around) and were really crude, recorded live to cassette,"
the band explains. "We grew fond of that live feel and demo takes
started to sound like finished songs. Over time, with almost everything
made live in our rehearsal room, it became a full album."
"Serpent in the Sky"
kicks things off with a syncopated bluesy riff romp, while "Burning
Down" echoes the stomping freeform feel of the New Yardbirds'
"How Many More Times." Once things settle in to the laid back shuffle
of "Free At Last", Svvamp really finds its groove and lets loose like Axis: Bold As Love Jimi Hendrix. "Time" sounds almost like Ziggy Stardust era Bowie with a boogie swagger and cheeky vocals. "Set My Foot and Leave" sounds as earnest and unpretentious as The Faces
(and at times like Rod Stewart's "Maggie May", without all that shaggy,
smug Rodness). Elsewhere, "Blue In the Face" slips into a heavy groove
while "Oh, Girl" bashes out stop 'n' go riffs with the Marshall stack
dramatics of Blue Cheer. Chiming mandolin and acoustic guitars lead the charming closing anthem, "Down By The River" (not the Neil Young song).
Svvamp will be available everywhere on LP, CD and download late August 2016 via RidingEasy Records.
Comments