The Swimmers have put out one of my favorite albums of the year. Except they haven't actually "put out" just yet. We're still sweet-talking, trying to coax them into that. Their delectable debut Fighting Trees is streaming in full over on their website and has been for some time now. This is literate pop, literally. Their music is based on the 1964 short story "The Swimmer" by John Cheever [ read about it here ]. I find their sound completely irresistible and find myself cueing it up quite a [...]
There's plen-tea of reasons why we love The Swimmers . For starters they've made one of the best albums of 07 that hasn't come out yet (soon come, they say), and they're going to open for Camera Obscura at their Philly show at the TLA on August 22, plus they're rocking Johnny Brendas this Friday night. And for all you fans and soon to be fans they're giving up a six song EP of five live songs and a studio outtake. How about that!? Here's a taste: [...]
In honour of May 24 and cottages and the like, here is this. Water, beaches, sailing, whatever. THOSE things. Those things the loser boating community can't experience because of this shit weather, which makes me pretty happy, though I'm sure the boaters don't care about that or anything else really (which is a boater characteristic, they all have it, even kayakers). You know, I want a boat! If anyone has any information on how I could get myself one and live on it forever without getting attacked by pirates or sea police or water [...]
In honour of May 24 and cottages and the like, here is this. Water, beaches, sailing, whatever. THOSE things. Those things the loser boating community can't experience because of this shit weather, which makes me pretty happy, though I'm sure the boaters don't care about that or anything else really (which is a boater characteristic, they all have it, even kayakers). You know, I want a boat! If anyone has any information on how I could get myself one and live on it forever without getting attacked by pirates or sea police or water [...]
I recorded something for Blog Fresh Radio out of New York City last month and didn't realize they'd aired it at the start of April. Head on over to hear me chatter for a few minutes about The Swimmers on this new format online radio show. You can listen to the show here: http://blogfreshradio.com/show /20070402/ My piece is about 23 minutes in -- even though they mis-christen my blog name (You Are Fire?), and I think I make up a word [...]
Shuffling through the mailbag to bring you some recent music fom the inbox. First up is Jade McNelis. Good Fences Records label mate to BOS favorite Memphis . Jade McNelis' debut EP is a terrifically beautiful amalgam of fate and destiny. This 20-year-old singer-songwriter was born in Taiwan, adopted by an American couple at only 42 days old and began learning the piano at age 4. Discovered when she opened for Stars in her hometown of Tallahassee, Florida, she was quickly signed to new Montreal [...]
I'm really getting into The Swimmers lately, a four piece from Philly that, to be honest, are really not that hard to like. I think it was everybody cares that first turned me on to them, and I definitely owe him somewhere between one and three pints for that favor. The music itself is easy on the ears, sounding a fair bit like The Shins or Rogue Wave or maybe even The New Pornographers. Enough of my ramblings though, let's get to the tracks. The first one, "Fighting Trees", is just fantastic. It's ethereal without being [...]
So spring is about to roll in, here on the east coast we'll be spending the next couple days continuing to thaw from what was our biggest ice/snowstorm of the winter. Bring on the global warming. Here's what I've been listening to most this past week: The Swimmers - Fighting Trees , Arcade Fire - Neon Bible , Julie Doiron - Woke Myself Up , Mary Weiss - Dangerous Game , Creeping Weeds - We Are All Part Of A [...]
Philadelphia, PA The Swimmers are starting a nice little tour that includes a residency at Piano's in NYC. I highly recommend checking these Philadelphians out if you love stuff like The New Pornographers. "St. Cecilia" The Swimmers on MySpace
I have a hard time naming more than a couple of local bands that I really like. I'm not a Dr. Dog fan. I like the Capitol Years. Spinto Band? Not quite Philly, but we'll claim them as our own. I'm sure I'm missing a lot of great local bands, but I wouldn't have a clue since I don't go out of my way to immerse myself in the local scene. My Philly sports homerism definitely doesn't translate to local music. For my money, simply being from the same city doesn't cover up for hookless music that fails [...]
"I, I'm standing where my, uh, living room was and it's not here because my house is gone..." According to their bio, The Swimmers are "a band based on a story. It's not the story of how the Philadelphia four-piece met or of how they came to music or even how they shook off their alt-country tendencies; it's the story of a young man who swims home through the backyard pools in his affluent suburban town only to find his home abandoned and ruined." The story being referred to above is in fact [...]
Every now and again here at The Rally, we get emails from bands, labels and publishers, trying to get themselves and their latest charges featured on the blog - you may scoff, but judging by the emails this is some prime real estate you're looking at right now. A favourite was the email offering me tickets to a showcase gig at the South By Southwest festival - unfortunately they wouldn't stretch to airfare and accommodation but it doesn't hurt to ask... Not many of these bands have inspired me to write about them, but last week I got [...]
Philadelphia's The Swimmers have become a bit of an "under the radar" sensation in their hometown in recent months. And its no surprise, with the success of other indie pop bands like The Shins and The New Pornographers enjoying a large following in the past 5 years or so, bands like The Swimmers are wise to follow in those footsteps. The band does have their own fingerprints all over their debut disc however. The roots of The Swimmers goes back to when frontman Steve Yutzy-Burkey was fronting another band, One Star Hotel, and decided [...]
Seems like a ton of bands out there have similar names. I pitted a few against each other. Would love to get your opinion on which band you prefer. Grace Potter and The Nocturnals ~ Nothing But The Water II vs. Peter Adams & the Nocturnal Collective ~ The Seventh Seal Grizzly Bear ~ Knife vs. Bears ~ Walk Away vs. Da Bears ~ I Want A Girl Who Knows HTML vs. Teddybears ~ Years to Keep The Swimmers ~ [...]
Start the week off right with some satire, courtesy of The Onion in their article History of Rock Written By The Losers . "BOSTON—Fifty years after its inception, rock 'n' roll music remains popular due to the ardor of its fans and the hard work of musicians, producers, and concert promoters. But in the vast universe of popular music, there exists an oft-overlooked group of dedicated individuals who devote their ample free time to collecting, debating, and publishing the minutiae of the rock genre. They are the losers who write rock's rich and storied history." [...]
First up from the mail bag today, The Swimmers . from their myspace bio : The Swimmers are a band based on a story. It's not the story of how the Philadelphia four-piece met or of how they came to music or even how they shook off their alt-country tendencies; it's the story of a young man who swims home through the backyard pools in his affluent suburban town only to find his home abandoned and ruined. Former One Star Hotel frontman Steve Yutzy-Burkey based his new pop project [...]
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American Idol Finalists: where are they now?
