All things are relative, of course, but I like to think that we've been fairly efficient and timely in the last couple of weeks covering new releases. One EP which 'slipped through the net', however, was Danish band 'Swash' who blazed in with their indie rock EP 'Osiris Reaps' a few weeks back, a highly enjoyable 15 minutes of riotous, catchy material which may not break too much new ground, but why should it - after all they don't reinvent Pies every year, and for good reason.
'Swash' have been around for a while, with the 4 piece from Copenhagen first releasing an EP 'Career Choices' in 2017, followed by the curiously named 'Sheep Says Dog' in 2018. They've been the support act for a number of international touring bands such as Pile and Mannequin Pussy too, and that makes sense, because I'm pretty sure that their style of music would pretty much appeal to everyone at a live gig.
Having listened to both those EP's, it's fair to say that their musical style hasn't developed too much. 'Osiris Reaps' opens with 'Green Screen', and there's a healthy dose of Pixies in the opening guitar salvos, a good contrast with some stripped back elements before the guitars go head to head in a searing / screeching last 40 seconds. I can't really hear the vocals, but I'm not too fussed, it's a highly enjoyable opening song.
'Gravity Slider' probably has more in common with more recent US 'garage style' guitar bands, guitar riff led but with a more obvious vocal melody and at over 3 minutes it's the longest track on the EP - these guys just like to blast out some guitar noise and leave it at that. 'Family Computer' has a really catchy chorus, but for me gets slightly lost in the middle section, not that it really matters at just 2 minutes long, whilst I particularly like the warped slacker and atonal guitar opening of 'Red Glow'. 'Not Much' is a high energy, full on 1 min 40 of post punk noise, whilst the high intensity ending of 'Puddle' is as enjoyable as it is loud and predictable.
Not sure what else to say about 'Swash' other than they simply make a great noise, with big guitars, melodies and enough contrasting shades of dynamics to keep the songs interesting. Not everything works to perfection and the shared vocal duties do get a little lost at times, but when they catch on to something really good (such as opener 'Green Screen') it really works well, and in general 'Osiris Reaps' is a highly entertaining indie guitar romp - go check out all their material.