Swans
This is a masterpiece of Rock Music.
Swans, led by front-man Michael Gira, adapt rock to our current musical climate by making it more colossal, menacing, robust, and abrasive- not more palatable.
This is a track-by-track commentary of thoughts on this record:
Screen Shot: Stunning way to begin a record.
Opening with a repetitive and impending bass line, this track continually grows and adds layers of piano, drums and other various instruments until the climax arrives where Gira roars “Here, now! Here, now!…” until the chaos collapses, bringing it to a close. Love the incremental growth and chilling vocal performance.
Just a Little Boy (For Chester Burnett): Eerie, cold, manic, and slow.
After a couple minutes of ambient drones and light drumming, Michael Gira groans sounding tired: “Now I sleep in the belly of woman.” He goes on to tell of the other “bellies” he sleeps in.
If that isn’t disturbing enough, he later screams “I’M JUST A LITTLE BOY” which is responded by unsettling, judgmental laughter. Don’t listen when alone. This one is disturbing.
A Little God In My Hands: Probably the most addictive song on this release.
The trudging, bulky, opening instrumentals lay a strong groove to drive all seven minutes of this track. When the vocals enter it begins to take on a combination of blues and heavy rock.
A block of absolute noise and chaos enters only a minute and a half in, followed by fast, clean guitar picking. After more build and a terrifying/exciting choir section entrance the song finally finishes with yet another blast of brass and electronic noise. I can’t get enough of this one! This is proof that Swans really can write songs with narrative and progression, they just choose not to on much pf the material in this album.
Bring The Sun/Toussaint L’Ouverture: Probably the least accessible song on this release. Spanning over 34 minutes, it demands a lot of patience. However, to me this is undeniably the heart of “To Be Kind.”
The first half is a brutal, punishing piece with some of the most violent, repetitive drumming of any rock song ever. Swans use these massive drums and choirs to transport you to another world. A world that you are conquering.
The only music I’ve heard that feels this colossal is maybe a Mahler symphony. I want to write more about this first half but the sheer magnitude of it leaves little more for me to say, it’s such a mammoth you just have to hear it.
The second half, however, feels quite different. This section feels aggressive and foreign. It’s like an ancient, brutish Arabian Prince challenging a foe to face him. Invigorating work.
Some Things We Do: “We seed” “We cut” “We hate” “We pray” “We crawl” “We F***”
The dark, twisted, sick, cryptic, and obsessive lyrics on this short (in comparison) track are clearly the focus here, however, the instrumentals on this one are brilliant.
Swans incorporate acoustic guitar with heavy reverb and a solo cello to back the haunting, spoken words. Makes for a fantastic listen. They have some mercy on the listener here by including a track that’s less than 8 minutes long.
She Loves Us: A bizarre opening with 6 minutes of ambiance and noise. It can come across aimless but it’s setting the stage. Swans aren’t afraid of taking their time to describe the scenery. Only about 8 minutes in do we begin to hear a clear rhythm in order to set up the powerful entrance of drums, electric guitar, and bass.
As the music grows Michael Gira grows continually more enraged, crazed, and manic, eventually shouting at the top of his lungs “F*** F*** F***” “YOUR NAME IS F***” with incessant, child-like fury. I didn’t know if I was allowed to laugh or if I should just feel uncomfortable. It evokes the same kind of response that you feel when someone is making a scene at the mall and you can see it from a distance.
Kirsten Supine: In the first half of this song we find Swans taking a much needed breather.
For the first five or so minutes a dense electric guitar drones, allowing space for Gira’s vocals which are sung on top of what sounds like a child’s toy piano.
A harsh, marching drum enters to lay the groundwork for noisy strings, bells, distorted guitars, and other various instruments creating a relatively small climax and eventually closing the track. The lyrics seem to be of more importance in this case.
This is another much needed break to the mostly non-subtle tracklist.
Oxygen: Wild, shocking start.
Swans shoot you with intense, abrasive Bass Guitar, playing in dissonant rhythms against the drum line in what appears to be a 2/4 time signature (or possibly just cut-time).
This primitive track only grows in insanity, introducing brass, multiple bass players, intense distorted guitar, and Gira’s iconic maniacal vocal delivery until its climax of thrusting, repeating noise arrives which brings this one to a close.
This track is an 8 minute adrenaline rush. Brace your ears and jump in.
Nathalie Neal: The tone of this track is set with cultish, meditative, ambient vocals along with distant, high pitched piano.
Once again, Gira not keep the same tone throughout the song.
Around the four minute mark there begins a sudden shift in the tempo and Michael’s vocals soar above his band singing “Hey hey hey hey hey hey Nathalie, hey hey hey…”
This one works in lovely contrast to the previous song, considering that it doesn’t contain an unusual amount of dissonant harmony and rhythm, in fact, it’s fairly tonal. Overall this makes it a pretty satisfying and fun listen. Especially since the ending is so subdued and clear.
To Be Kind: What a chilling way to send off a record.
Michael speculates about kindness while accompanied by calm acoustic guitar until Swans pull together one last, gripping climax where the obscene amounts of noise become nearly numbing.
This is a harsh and bold artistic statement, that can be, at times, a difficult listen.
Be patient, this thing is flawlessly written and arranged.
If you’re a lover of prog-rock, noise-rock, or honestly just rock in general, you’ll absolutely love this.
Ben Meitzen 