| Swervedriver |
| I Wasn’t Born to Lose You |
Swervedriver — I Wasn’t Born to Lose You 
♠ Častěji má svůj pohled na úrovni očí, než směrem k pedálu. Je tu hodně věcí, jak o tomto albu psát, ale největším vítězstvím bandu je fakt, že procestovali statisíce mil, aniž by ztratili něco z vlastní účinnosti. Tyto re–formace a návraty jsou někdy dost špatným nápadem. Můžou celou historii i diskografii kapely poskvrnit i zničit. Naštěstí v případě legendárních shoegazers Swervedriver je to jejich triumf. Nenarodil jsem se abych vás ztratil je album, ve které jsem doufal, že by ještě mohli udělat.
Formed: 1989 in Oxford, London, England
Location: Oxford, London, UK
Album release: 3 March 2015
Recorded: Birdland Studios in Melbourne; Konk Studios, London
Record Label: Cobraside
Duration: 48:50
Tracks:
01 Autodidact 5:00
02 Last Rites 3:27
03 For a Day Like Tomorrow 5:30
04 Setting Sun 2:53
05 Everso 6:45
06 English Subtitles 5:20
07 Red Queen Arms Race 5:41
08 Deep Wound 4:00
09 Lone Star 4:34
10 I Wonder? 5:40
Personnel:
Swervedriver
♠ Adam Franklin — vocals, guitar
♠ Jimmy Hartridge — guitar
♠ Steve George — bass
♠ Mikey Jones — drums, percussion
Review by Fred Thomas; ****½
♠ During the golden age of shoegaze in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, British act Swervedriver never quite gained the prestige of Creation Records contemporaries like My Bloody Valentine or Ride, but established a dedicated following of their own with their somewhat more aggressive initial approach to bent guitar tones and dreamlike alternative pop that slowly progressed into more psychedelic and jangly pop sounds. ♠ The band took most of the 2000s off, calling it a day after 1998’s excellent 99th Dream but reuniting in 2008 for various tours and performances. I Wasn't Born to Lose You marks Swervedriver's fifth album and their first new material in over 15 years. Despite the time off, I Wasn't Born to Lose You charges out of the gates with all the power of their 1991 debut, Raise, while picking up on exploratory songwriting and daydreamy moods where 99th Dream left off. Raise was notoriously an album of hard–edged shoegaze rockers full of references to cars and driving. Band founder Adam Franklin's long–burning love affair with automobiles touched on lots of his material solo and with Swervedriver, and it's fitting that this album begins with "Autodidact," a propulsive rocker peppered with lyrics about gas stations and nighttime drives. The band's other love — inventive and unexpected guitar tones — is present in abundance all over the album as well, from the quick–shifting dance of different layers of distortion on "Last Rites" to the patient, narcotic drifts of feedback on "Everso." Early single "Deep Wound" blurs together burning riffs, high–pitched synth lines, and buried, distorted vocals from Franklin's faraway rasp, sounding every bit as lonesome and twilight–colored as they did two decades earlier. Not a complete throwback to either the dusty driving anthems of Raise or the more multicolored pop of Mezcal Head and later albums, I Wasn't Born to Lose You sounds like a thoughtfully drawn continuation of Swervedriver's particular breed of carefully crafted dream pop. Their drive to push forward is refreshing, and the slight updates to the band's intricate signature sound results in an exciting comeback album and a statement that stands on its own regardless of its place in time.
Artist Biography by Jason Ankeny
♠ The band who brought the car song into the shoegaze era, Swervedriver were formed in Britain in 1990 by vocalists/guitarists Adam Franklin and Jimmy Hartridge, bassist Adi Vines, and drummer Graham Bonner. Fusing the swirling textures of the shoegazer aesthetic with the more traditional boundaries of pop, the group debuted with a series of brilliant EPs — Son of Mustang Ford, Rave Down, and Sandblasted — before issuing their full–length debut, Raise, in 1991. After a U.S. tour in support of Soundgarden, Bonner left the band, followed quickly by the departure of Vines; 1992's Never Lose That Feeling EP, their strongest effort to date, initially appeared to mark the group's swan song. But in 1993, Swervedriver returned; with the core of Franklin and Hartridge rounded out by new drummer Jez Hindmarsh, they released their sophomore LP, Mezcal Head. An import–only release, Ejector Seat Reservation, followed in 1995, and featured new bassist Steve George. In the fall of 1998, Swervedriver resurfaced with their fourth effort, 99th Dream, and the Wrong Treats EP followed in 1999. Bonner and Vines, meanwhile, continued as Skyscraper, and Adam Franklin recorded as Toshack Highway. Swervedriver were on hiatus for much of the 2000s, until an October 2007 announcement that the group would re–form and commence touring the following year. The next several years found Swervedriver — Franklin, Hartridge, and George, with Hindmarsh, Bonner, or, starting in 2012, newcomer Mikey Jones (Bolts of Melody, Heaven) on drums — sporadically touring and appearing at festivals internationally, as well as making an appearance on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. The new single "Deep Wound" was released in the fall of 2013, and the group also announced plans for the arrival of a new full–length album in 2014. The album, titled I Wasn’t Born to Lose You, eventually got pushed back to a release date of early March 2015 and was preceded by second single "Setting Sun." ♠ The album would be Swervedriver's fifth full–length studio long–player and the band’s first since 1998's 99th Dream. :: http://www.allmusic.com/
Review
JASON HELLER
♠ In the early ‘90s, Swervedriver frontman Adam Franklin was an oddity in the British shoegaze scene. Unlike his contemporaries in My Bloody Valentine, Ride and Slowdive — who subverted the showy exhibitionism of pop music by shrouding themselves in isolating blankets of sound — Franklin clearly liked to rock. He could play as prettily and atmospherically as his peers, as evidenced by the band's 1993 masterpiece Mezcal Head. When it came down to it, though, he seemed like the kind of guy who'd rather flip his hair than study his footwear.
♠ This changed a bit with 1998's 99th Dream, a careful, eclectic record that demonstrated Franklin's increasing restlessness and maturity as a songwriter. It also wound up being many fans' least favorite Swervedriver record. Seventeen years later, I Wasn't Born To Lose You is the band's first full–length since 99th Dream, a fact that brings both good news and bad. The bad news: It sounds more like 99th Dream than anything else in Swervedriver's discography. The good news: 99th Dream is far better than most people remember, and I Wasn't Born To Lose You is just as dreamy, subtle and winning. If not necessarily as rocking.
♠ "Autodidact" not only sets the tone for the album, but also sums up Swervedriver's past and present. Wistful and yearning, it flirts with both beauty and dissonance as Franklin offers humbly poetic observations about "gas stations as churches." His voice — which always bore a welcome resemblance to the starry–eyed croon of Grant Hart from Hüsker Dü, a group that clearly influenced Swervedriver as much as, say, Cocteau Twins — has eroded a bit since Swervedriver's '90s heyday. But that slightly rugged quality only makes the dreamy longing of "For A Day Like Tomorrow" sound that much more bittersweet.
♠ The eclecticism last heard on 99th Dream shows up here, most notably in the stoner–rock groove of "Red Queens Arms Race" — if it's an homage to Queens Of The Stone Age, it's a worthy one — and the psychedelic prog of "Lone Star," an ambitiously arranged showcase for Franklin's sprawling ambition. Only two tracks, "Last Rites" and "I Wonder," fit the classic shoegaze mold; even then, they splice hard–edged emotional realism into all that churning, billowy noise. As a melodicist, Franklin has never been stronger or more intimate. And even though I Wasn't Born To Lose You doesn't rank up there with Mezcal Head in terms of capturing a zeitgeist — or just plain rocking out — its soft, warm glow is a subtle reminder that shoegaze, all these years later, still has space left to explore. :: http://www.npr.org/
Also:
BY ADAM KIVEL, ON FEBRUARY 25, 2015, 6:00AM; SCORE: B–
:: http://consequenceofsound.net/2015/02/album-review-swervedriver-i-wasnt-born-to-lose-you/
JIM F — FEBRUARY 1, 2015; SCORE: 9.1
:: http://www.backseatmafia.com/2015/02/01/album-review-swervedriver-wasnt-born-lose/
By Jeff Terich, Reviewed on March 4, 2015 / http://www.treblezine.com/reviews/21871-swervedriver-i-wasnt-born-to-lose-you-review/
Website: http://www.swervedriver.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/swervedriverofficial
Twitter: https://twitter.com/swervedriveruk
YouTube: http://swervedriver.com/youtube.asp
_____________________________________________________
Discography:
1991 Raise A&M
1993 Mezcal Head A&M
1995 Ejector Seat Reservation Sony BMG
1998 99th Dream Zero Hour
2015 I Wasn’t Born to Lose You Cobraside
_____________________________________________________________
| Swervedriver |
| I Wasn’t Born to Lose You |
Formed: 1989 in Oxford, London, England
Location: Oxford, London, UK
Album release: 3 March 2015
Recorded: Birdland Studios in Melbourne; Konk Studios, London
Record Label: Cobraside
Duration: 48:50
Tracks:
01 Autodidact 5:00
02 Last Rites 3:27
03 For a Day Like Tomorrow 5:30
04 Setting Sun 2:53
05 Everso 6:45
06 English Subtitles 5:20
07 Red Queen Arms Race 5:41
08 Deep Wound 4:00
09 Lone Star 4:34
10 I Wonder? 5:40
Personnel:
Swervedriver
♠ Adam Franklin — vocals, guitar
♠ Jimmy Hartridge — guitar
♠ Steve George — bass
♠ Mikey Jones — drums, percussion
Review by Fred Thomas; ****½
♠ During the golden age of shoegaze in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, British act Swervedriver never quite gained the prestige of Creation Records contemporaries like My Bloody Valentine or Ride, but established a dedicated following of their own with their somewhat more aggressive initial approach to bent guitar tones and dreamlike alternative pop that slowly progressed into more psychedelic and jangly pop sounds. ♠ The band took most of the 2000s off, calling it a day after 1998’s excellent 99th Dream but reuniting in 2008 for various tours and performances. I Wasn't Born to Lose You marks Swervedriver's fifth album and their first new material in over 15 years. Despite the time off, I Wasn't Born to Lose You charges out of the gates with all the power of their 1991 debut, Raise, while picking up on exploratory songwriting and daydreamy moods where 99th Dream left off. Raise was notoriously an album of hard–edged shoegaze rockers full of references to cars and driving. Band founder Adam Franklin's long–burning love affair with automobiles touched on lots of his material solo and with Swervedriver, and it's fitting that this album begins with "Autodidact," a propulsive rocker peppered with lyrics about gas stations and nighttime drives. The band's other love — inventive and unexpected guitar tones — is present in abundance all over the album as well, from the quick–shifting dance of different layers of distortion on "Last Rites" to the patient, narcotic drifts of feedback on "Everso." Early single "Deep Wound" blurs together burning riffs, high–pitched synth lines, and buried, distorted vocals from Franklin's faraway rasp, sounding every bit as lonesome and twilight–colored as they did two decades earlier. Not a complete throwback to either the dusty driving anthems of Raise or the more multicolored pop of Mezcal Head and later albums, I Wasn't Born to Lose You sounds like a thoughtfully drawn continuation of Swervedriver's particular breed of carefully crafted dream pop. Their drive to push forward is refreshing, and the slight updates to the band's intricate signature sound results in an exciting comeback album and a statement that stands on its own regardless of its place in time.
Artist Biography by Jason Ankeny
♠ The band who brought the car song into the shoegaze era, Swervedriver were formed in Britain in 1990 by vocalists/guitarists Adam Franklin and Jimmy Hartridge, bassist Adi Vines, and drummer Graham Bonner. Fusing the swirling textures of the shoegazer aesthetic with the more traditional boundaries of pop, the group debuted with a series of brilliant EPs — Son of Mustang Ford, Rave Down, and Sandblasted — before issuing their full–length debut, Raise, in 1991. After a U.S. tour in support of Soundgarden, Bonner left the band, followed quickly by the departure of Vines; 1992's Never Lose That Feeling EP, their strongest effort to date, initially appeared to mark the group's swan song. But in 1993, Swervedriver returned; with the core of Franklin and Hartridge rounded out by new drummer Jez Hindmarsh, they released their sophomore LP, Mezcal Head. An import–only release, Ejector Seat Reservation, followed in 1995, and featured new bassist Steve George. In the fall of 1998, Swervedriver resurfaced with their fourth effort, 99th Dream, and the Wrong Treats EP followed in 1999. Bonner and Vines, meanwhile, continued as Skyscraper, and Adam Franklin recorded as Toshack Highway. Swervedriver were on hiatus for much of the 2000s, until an October 2007 announcement that the group would re–form and commence touring the following year. The next several years found Swervedriver — Franklin, Hartridge, and George, with Hindmarsh, Bonner, or, starting in 2012, newcomer Mikey Jones (Bolts of Melody, Heaven) on drums — sporadically touring and appearing at festivals internationally, as well as making an appearance on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. The new single "Deep Wound" was released in the fall of 2013, and the group also announced plans for the arrival of a new full–length album in 2014. The album, titled I Wasn’t Born to Lose You, eventually got pushed back to a release date of early March 2015 and was preceded by second single "Setting Sun." ♠ The album would be Swervedriver's fifth full–length studio long–player and the band’s first since 1998's 99th Dream. :: http://www.allmusic.com/
Review
JASON HELLER
♠ In the early ‘90s, Swervedriver frontman Adam Franklin was an oddity in the British shoegaze scene. Unlike his contemporaries in My Bloody Valentine, Ride and Slowdive — who subverted the showy exhibitionism of pop music by shrouding themselves in isolating blankets of sound — Franklin clearly liked to rock. He could play as prettily and atmospherically as his peers, as evidenced by the band's 1993 masterpiece Mezcal Head. When it came down to it, though, he seemed like the kind of guy who'd rather flip his hair than study his footwear.
♠ This changed a bit with 1998's 99th Dream, a careful, eclectic record that demonstrated Franklin's increasing restlessness and maturity as a songwriter. It also wound up being many fans' least favorite Swervedriver record. Seventeen years later, I Wasn't Born To Lose You is the band's first full–length since 99th Dream, a fact that brings both good news and bad. The bad news: It sounds more like 99th Dream than anything else in Swervedriver's discography. The good news: 99th Dream is far better than most people remember, and I Wasn't Born To Lose You is just as dreamy, subtle and winning. If not necessarily as rocking.
♠ "Autodidact" not only sets the tone for the album, but also sums up Swervedriver's past and present. Wistful and yearning, it flirts with both beauty and dissonance as Franklin offers humbly poetic observations about "gas stations as churches." His voice — which always bore a welcome resemblance to the starry–eyed croon of Grant Hart from Hüsker Dü, a group that clearly influenced Swervedriver as much as, say, Cocteau Twins — has eroded a bit since Swervedriver's '90s heyday. But that slightly rugged quality only makes the dreamy longing of "For A Day Like Tomorrow" sound that much more bittersweet.
♠ The eclecticism last heard on 99th Dream shows up here, most notably in the stoner–rock groove of "Red Queens Arms Race" — if it's an homage to Queens Of The Stone Age, it's a worthy one — and the psychedelic prog of "Lone Star," an ambitiously arranged showcase for Franklin's sprawling ambition. Only two tracks, "Last Rites" and "I Wonder," fit the classic shoegaze mold; even then, they splice hard–edged emotional realism into all that churning, billowy noise. As a melodicist, Franklin has never been stronger or more intimate. And even though I Wasn't Born To Lose You doesn't rank up there with Mezcal Head in terms of capturing a zeitgeist — or just plain rocking out — its soft, warm glow is a subtle reminder that shoegaze, all these years later, still has space left to explore. :: http://www.npr.org/
Also:
BY ADAM KIVEL, ON FEBRUARY 25, 2015, 6:00AM; SCORE: B–
:: http://consequenceofsound.net/2015/02/album-review-swervedriver-i-wasnt-born-to-lose-you/
JIM F — FEBRUARY 1, 2015; SCORE: 9.1
:: http://www.backseatmafia.com/2015/02/01/album-review-swervedriver-wasnt-born-lose/
By Jeff Terich, Reviewed on March 4, 2015 / http://www.treblezine.com/reviews/21871-swervedriver-i-wasnt-born-to-lose-you-review/
Website: http://www.swervedriver.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/swervedriverofficial
Twitter: https://twitter.com/swervedriveruk
YouTube: http://swervedriver.com/youtube.asp
_____________________________________________________
Discography:
1991 Raise A&M
1993 Mezcal Head A&M
1995 Ejector Seat Reservation Sony BMG
1998 99th Dream Zero Hour
2015 I Wasn’t Born to Lose You Cobraside
_____________________________________________________________