The UNKNOWN Albums of the 90s (#5)

5. Swell - Too Many Days Without Thinking (1997)

There was a lost genre in the 90s...it was called post-grunge. When post-grunge came out, it was embraced by the flannel-loving, knit-cap wearing kids who refused to give up their goatees and embrace the coming digital revolution. They were the loners and losers...kind of like the grunge crowd prior to Nirvana. But this genre wanted to take wallowing to the next level. I first heard David Freel's band Swell late at night while working my college radio gig. It was dark and creepy, like the mood in the DJ booth. That at any moment...someone would appear out of the darkness and slit my throat. It was quite the juxtaposition from Celine Dion's sonic assualt on the radio waves. Though Dion's music made you want to commit suicide...Swell sounded like they already had. Maybe this is the reason that the band never found an audience. But years later, listening to the album...it sounds fresher than Celine's swill. Imagine that.

Going Up To Portland

Buy Too Many Days Without Thinking...here.