The Comedy of Errors: Swell - Life’s Great [Peel Session] (6 June 1992)

What’s interesting about San Francisco based Swell is how much they sounded like various British bands of the early 90s.  The awesome Down shared the world-changing possibilities of early Suede, though part of this may be down, as far as I can see, to Peel’s tease that he was going to play a track by a band beginning with the letter S of whom great things had been predicted.  That band were Swell, who still found themselves in the Next Big Thing stable when they recorded a session for Peel on 28 April 1992 for broadcast on tonight’s programme.

The video features the full session, but for me it’s only the second track, Life’s Great (starts at 4:27) that really merits repeat listening.  It starts out as something of a swing slacker song with its references to casual nihilism, “50 cent beers” and voluntary isolation.  However, David Freel’s vocal manages to nail a real sense of anguished apathy.  Just where is he going?  “ I don’t know what the fuck I need.” as he remarks toward the end, almost audibly slouching towards the refrigerator for another beer.  It’s a sentiment expressed in dozens of grunge songs recorded around the same time, but here Swell sound nothing like Nirvana, but more like The La’s.  That blend of driving acoustic guitar allied to folk-rock riffs would have potentially provided a refuge for all those waiting for Lee Mavers and friends to snap out of their Axl Rose phase.  If The La’s had no plans to record a follow-up to their totemic debut album - and The Stone Roses were too busy being trussed up in legal battles to record anything, then Swell looked well placed to fill the gap for UK music fans who couldn’t get on board with grunge or shoegaze..  Freel even has a variation on the Mavers sneer about his vocal, and there are elements in the session closer, There’s Always One Thing (which I originally had slated for inclusion, but have gone cool on subsequently) of The La’s creative apex, Looking Glass.

Video courtesy of Fruitier Than Thou