Swim Party
San Diego, California, United States | SELF
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Monday night I went to the Casbah for Swim Party, Frightened Rabbits, and Quasi. Unlike usual Mondays in San Diego, there was a lot to choose from around town. Battles were playing at the Epicentre and Final Fantasy was at the Beauty Bar among a few other options. With that in mind, I guess I wasn't too surprised that the Casbah wasn't very crowded. For that, all I can say is that I'm sorry to anyone who wasn't there, because Swim Party absolutely blew the lid off the place. They sounded so clean and so good that my friend and I were trying to figure out how we can get Barsuk to pay attention. I was so into the music, I didn't even pull out my camera and let Natalie go to town. Check her site (http://www.itstoosunnyouthere.com) for those pics in a couple days. - SD: Dialed In
There must be some very good things going on in San Diego right now. You should all know about Kite Flying Society by now, and I've also been impressed by what I've heard of San Diego artists Lindsey Yung and Bushwalla. Yet another rising San Diego band I've been able to check out (despite my east coast base) is an impressive quartet known as Swim Party.
Swim Party was kind enough to send me their current EP, and though it's only 5 tracks long it definitely leaves me wanting to hear more. I'm particularly struck by the diversity of the tracks -- I can certainly appreciate a band that sounds like pacific northwest indie rock one track and some sort of post-punk/pop hybrid the next.
I'm not sure who plays what in the band, but it's worth noting that among their primary instruments is a violin. It may not sound that significant, but it adds a really unique element to their sound, particularly when they wander into math-rock territory. Can you tell I like this EP? Check out a few tracks for yourself. - Cable and Tweed
Miss the days when Modest Mouse was modest and Arcade Fire was just a spark in the indie-rock blaze? Even though they aren't exactly new to the scene (we featured them in our last issue), you should get behind Swim Party pronto. Songs like "Twenty Five" and "On Bloom and Line" show enough promise that they'll be cramming scenesters into Scolari's for a huge collective arm-cross in no time. Singer Eric Tremblay has the perfect indie-rock voice, lost in space somewhere between Isaac Brock and Ian Curtis. Add lush orchestration, a great rhythmic sense and a taste for experimentation and the result is one of the most original sounds to emerge out of the scene in quite awhile. All and all, these five songs sound like Side A of what will surely be an amazing full-length. Can't wait. MS/swimparty.
—Seth Combs - San Diego CityBeat
Going through my crazy end of the year listening there are always a few bands and albums that I truly (re)discover for the first time. San Diego’s Swim Party and their album, Pixie Dust On The Blood Range, is certainly a perfect example of how I can totally overlook an album. After delving into this album a bit more in the last few days, this band actually reminds me of SAL indie pop sweethearts, Pomegranates but perhaps a bit darker.
2008 was an interesting year for me in terms of my tastes. I have determined that I pretty much hate 98% of the bands labeled as indie pop. And I have realized what a bore indie rock has become as well. Nonetheless, bands like Swim Party fall into that rare 2% actually doing something cool within those narrow parameters and catching my attention. The band puts forth songs that slowly seep into you with haunting melodies that The Shins would kill for. However, there is much more going on instrumentally here. Reminiscent of the ridiculously underrated prog-pop of Portland, Oregon’s The Standard, Swim Party are really hitting all my buttons. So, if you like your indie pop with a bit more moody indie rock thrown in, Swim Party might just be a perfect fit.
Jan 19th, 2009
by Will / Sound As Language
- Sound as Language
Swim Party is a band I’ve known of for a long time. JR’s girlfriend, Melissa, knows them, and has always spoken highly of them. Her tendency to be effusive about these things may have delayed my checking their out by four or five months–which means four or five months of missing the boat for me.Whimsy isn’t something to which a lot of boys (outside of the fey, indie pop circuit) with guitars aspire. Swim Party has it in spades. They also have strength, integrity, and blindingly good songs. I was very happy to hear that the EP I’d just purchased had the song “Sunlight and Sprawl,” which really had me floored. I can’t remember the last time I thought of 764-HERO. I also can’t remember the last time I thought of the Cure, the Format, and Ian Curtis at a child’s tea party, smoothed out by Paxil and really digging on the high society conversations of teddy bears and china dolls. In fact, I’m pretty sure outside of myself–and maybe Swim Party–the thought is a completely novel creation. I’m instantly a fan, and am relatively convinced that their 20 minute set in the Atari Lounge was one of the first sets I’ve seen in a long time that really made me smile. They even played a Yo La Tengo cover. My buddy (and presumed reader) Kelly Wurtz and I always chide each other because he loves the indie pop and I’m too closeted to admit that I admire its charms. I think Swim Party may be the sacred territory over which we bury that particular hatchet. - Dirt Bag's Delight
Oct 2008
Undiscovered band of the month: swim party
- Filter Magazine
we first heard of san diegans, san diegites, san diegots swim party when "the kids are a drag" showed up as one of the i pick my nose song obsessions this past summer. at the time their album, pixie dust on the blood range, hadn't yet been released and though we made ourselves a note to follow up, it wasn't until the disc showed up at the a.g. world headquarters recently that made good on it. happily, time affected our affection for these lot not a whit. or, in english please, it's solid effort all around. the languid, terrific "the kids are a drag" still stands tall, to our ears, but there are strong tracks throughout; we think you'll enjoy "dead rot" in particular. you can hear them below, or stream additional songs on their myspace page, or pick up your own copy of the environmentally mindful & attractively packaged pixie from insound. - Anyone's Guess
It's not very often that bands like Swim Party make this column, so you know they are doing some things right. Their minimal take on indie rock is something reminiscent of early Modest Mouse, mostly due to their driving force in vocalist/guitarist, Eric Tremblay. Their music is as heartbreaking as it is soothing.
- Starpulse
My initial impression of San Diego's Swim Party was that they sort of sound like a cross between The Shins and early Modest Mouse with a little bit of Broken Social Scene thrown in-between. So you know this is going to be pretty melodic stuff.
They've got those breezy guitar melodies that sometimes get a little spacey (like The Shins), a vague sense of psych with a wickedly wonderful vocal warble courtesy of singer Eric Tremblay (like Modest Mouse), and some subtly serene string arrangements (like Broken Social Scene). I'm not sure why these four are still unsigned since they represent a cross between three bands who have sold a bajillion albums. Who knows, maybe that's just the way Swim Party rolls. - Oh My Rockness
I feel compelled to mention this ’08 release while it’s on my mind, since the San Diego band is playing Feb. 23 at Spaceland. “Pixie Dust” is simply a solid record, a little Modest Mouse, a little National, a little of indie-rock’s forebears from the 1990s. Worth tracking down. - Buzzbands LA
We performed 2 songs live on Fuel TV's "the Daily Habit"
Originally Aired on 03/25/09 and is being broadcast on syndication as well as available online here:
http://www.fuel.tv/music?bcpid=5807873001&bclid=1390018585&bctid=17591703001
and here:
http://www.fuel.tv/music?bcpid=5807873001&bclid=1390018585&bctid=17591698001 - Fuel TV
http://www.itstoosunnyouthere.com/2007/12/best-of-2007-top-thirteen-live-shows-of.html
#9. Quasi w/Frightened Rabbit and Swim Party @ Casbah
I went to this show merely to see locals Swim Party again. I'm almost ashamed to admit that I hadn't heard of Quasi before this show (although I was quite familiar with the name Janet Weiss). All the bands on this bill blew me away in rapid succession. They all had a similar sound that complemented each other nicely, without seeming to overlap and make the night boring. All the members of all the bands are extraordinarily talented, and churn out beautiful indie pop music. It was one of those rare shows where you don't go with any expectations, and it ends up being better than most of the shows you've seen that year. - It's Too Sunny Out Here
By Doug Wagner
FOR SIGNONSANDIEGO
You might expect that a band called "Swim Party" from San Diego should sound summery and pop-heavy, the type of music with the word "bubblegum" in the genre. You would be forgiven, but alas you would be wrong. The truth is Swim Party sounds more like mountains and trees and driving in the rain -- more at home in Puget Sound than on the beaches of So Cal. When Swim Party does occasionally venture into the pop realm it is violin and echoic vocals that get them there, not three-chord progressions or sing-song melodies.
While liberally compared to the likes of Modest Mouse, Swim Party is more than just a Pacific Northwest retread incongruously birthed in the Southland. Bassist Alex Devereaux strums and plucks with an irreverent creativity reminiscent of Zach Smith. Eric Tremblay's keening vocals call to mind James Mercer of the Shins. With the occasional violin (perfectly and affectingly incorporated) it's a nice mix, enough to nab them a nomination for Best Alternative Album at last year's San Diego Music Awards. The band's 2006 five-song "Sewing and Blood" EP was hailed by the few critics who managed to get a hold of it. Here's hoping that their upcoming second effort garners the attention they deserve. - SignOn San Diego (Union Tribune)
Discography
• There Is Too Much Wood In My Coffin - EP (5 songs) Slated for release 01/04/2011.
• Split 7", Limited Edition White Vinyl w/ Writer. (02/2009)
• Pixie Dust on the Blood Range - LP (06/2008) Nominated for "Best Alternative Album" by the San Diego Music Awards, "recommended" album by FM 94/9
• Self Titled - EP (2006, 5 songs) Nominated for "Best Alternative Album" by the San Diego Music Awards
• We've recieved airplay on local FM stations FM 94/9, 91X and KPRI as well as internet stations WOXY, Indie Pop Rocks, and Various college stations.
Photos
Bio
"Drummer looking for band. Influences: the Microphones."
That was the genesis of Swim Party, a critically acclaimed indie rock trio from San Diego. Drummer Petro Halkowycz, recently transplanted from New Jersey, posted the intentionally cryptic Craigslist ad in 2005 in hopes that his reference to the obscure K Records lo-fi band might catch the attention of just the right people while alienating any undesirables. It worked: Canadian-born singer/guitarist Eric Tremblay took the bait, and the pair quickly bonded over comic books and guitar-pedal geekery while writing kernels of songs in Petro’s apartment. Using the same Craigslist technique, they recruited bassist Alex Devereaux, a native San Diegan with a distinct strum-and-tap playing style honed by listening to ‘90s-era San Diego bands like Three Mile Pilot and Boilermaker.
Devereaux's big bass chords combined with Halkowycz's angular percussion and Tremblay's sparse guitar in a way none of them had experienced. Though they’re not the first rock band made up of guitars, drums and vox, Swim Party continually strives to surprise, to sidestep the easy or obvious hook without losing its pop heart. With intricate, quirky song elements and sometimes fragile arrangements, the band combines prog, post-rock and indie rock to form a sort of experimental pop music. But underneath, it’s still just rock ‘n’ roll.
Swim Party’s first release—an atmospheric, violin-spiked five-track EP called Sewing and Blood—was promptly nominated for Best Alternative Album at the 2006 San Diego Music Awards despite not even technically being a full-length album. Local critics hailed it as “one of the most original sounds to emerge out of the scene in quite a while” (San Diego CityBeat) and “more at home in Puget Sound than on the beaches of SoCal” (San Diego Union-Tribune).
The long player Pixie Dust On The Blood Range followed in 2008, this time catching the attention of Los Angeles Times critic Kevin Bronson of Buzzbands L.A., who called it “simply a solid record, a little Modest Mouse, a little National, a little of indie-rock’s forebears from the 1990s. Worth tracking down.” Bloggers and fans across the country were captivated, too, by the album’s tightened-up arrangements, heavily effected guitars and knotted lyrics that begged for repeated listens.
Citing influences ranging from Yo La Tengo and Modest Mouse to Fugazi and Wolf Parade, the band has shared bills with the likes of Quasi, Frightened Rabbit, Pattern is Movement, Local Natives, The Henry Clay People, The Cave Singers, Calla and Talkdemonic. Selected as one of Filter magazine’s Undiscovered Bands of the Month, Swim Party has also appeared on Fuel TV’s The Daily Habit and was featured as an “Artist Spotlight” on CMJ.
The band’s latest EP, titled There Is Too Much Wood In My Coffin, opens with the single “The Glory of Economy,” whose infectious shaker introduces a beat-skipping time signature that underpins Devereaux’s driving guitar and Tremblay’s assured vocal, while the four tracks that follow showcase the breadth of Swim Party’s songwriting, moving easily from blistering noise rock to a patient instrumental with an enormous melodic release. Finally, a hiccupping phrase builds into the EP’s epic ending, providing the disc with one of its biggest and best moments. The EP is slated for release Jan. 4, 2011.
There Is Too Much Wood In My Coffin:
1) The Glory of Economy
2) Take A Knee
3) Harvey
4) Don’t You Be Precious
5) Kerosene Hairbrush
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