The Music Blog of the Infonistacrat!

There must have been something in the water in Boston in the late 80’s and early 90’s. The city produced two great bands during that time (well, there are others of course, but lets say two for now.). First the Pixies exploded onto the scene in the late 80’s, and in my opinion, changed the rules forever and helped usher in the alternative scene of the early 90’s. The second is The Swirlies. Inspired by bands like the Pixies and Sonic
Youth, this band could go from mellow, surreal melodies to flat out noise in the time it takes to read this. But it all works. The combination is a bit more jagged than the loud quiet loud style of the Pixies, but just as effective. Allmusicguide describes them as “Notorious for loud, wall-of-noise guitar music, as well as a twisted quiet side, Swirlies have a fondness for the phrase “sneakyflute music” to describe their endeavors.“.

Blonder Tonge Audio Baton was the first full length album by the Swirlies, and it delivers the goods. If you listened to a lot of indie rock in the 90’s, you would have heard songs from this album, as it really was a seminal release during that period. Some of the songs stand up against even the Pixies finest…Pancake being the best of the album. Jeremy Parker is also a track that is definitely worth a listen. Let me take that back…the whole album has to be heard in it’s entirety. Like most indie bands, the Swirlies are an album driven band, producing complete, cohesive bodies of work as opposed two or three singles with filler crap you find with big label bands.

Click on the album cover to download the album, or right click and “Save As” each song to save individually. If you love this music, please go and buy their work.