Swervedriver

Swervedriver are an English alternative rock band formed in Oxford in 1989 around core members Adam Franklin and Jimmy Hartridge. Between 1989 and 1998, the band released four studio albums and numerous EPs and singles despite a considerable flux of members, managers, and record labels. By 1993 the band's lineup had settled with Franklin on vocals/guitar, Hartridge on guitar, Jez Hindmarsh on drums, and Steve George on bass. They had emerged with a heavier rock sound than their shoegaze contemporaries, and over the next five years it evolved to include elements of psychedelia, classic pop, and indie rock.

Record label issues and waning interest within the group led to their split at the end of 1998. A decade later, Swervedriver reunited and toured periodically over the next five years, releasing their first new material in fifteen years with the 2013 single "Deep Wound". They have since released two full-length albums, ''I Wasn't Born to Lose You'' in 2015 and ''Future Ruins'' in 2019, with touring stand-ins drummer Mikey Jones and bassist Mick Quinn permanently joining the band.

History

Early years (1984–1989)

Swervedriver have their roots in Oxford when schoolmates and aspiring guitarists Franklin and Hartridge along with Franklin's older brother and vocalist, Graham, and drummer Paddy Pulzer formed the band Shake Appeal in 1984. In 1987, bass player Adrian "Adi" Vines, from Yorkshire, joined the band, and the following year they released their solitary single "Gimme Fever" through Notown Records. Shake Appeal were influenced by late '60s garage rock bands like The Stooges and MC5, drawing similar influences from the sights and sounds of the British Leyland car factory Franklin and Hartridge walked past every day on the way to school. When influence turned to emulation, the members felt they needed to develop a sound of their own. They had meanwhile turned their attention to American alternative rock acts Hüsker Dü, Sonic Youth, and Dinosaur Jr., and subsequently were inspired "to push out the boundaries of electric guitar within a pop format."

In 1989, after Shake Appeal disbanded, Adam Franklin composed the songs "Volcano Trash", "Afterglow", and " Son of Mustang Ford" (which would become Swerverdriver's first single). The former bandmates were impressed with his work and assembled at Union Street Studios in Oxford to record a demo, with Adam Franklin shifting to lead vocals and his brother singing backup. Soon thereafter, Graham Franklin and Pulzer left the band to pursue other musical interests. Growing tired of the local scene, the group had decided to head to London, and there they met drummer and Edinburgh-native Graham Bonnar, formerly of the post-punk band The Shattered Family. Before leaving Oxford, they had handed their demo to Mark Gardener of local band Ride, who in turn passed it on to Alan McGee of Creation Records. McGee signed them almost immediately after listening to the tape (while riding around downtown Los Angeles in the back of a limousine) and Swervedriver was born.

Debut EPs, ''Raise'', and departures (1990–1992)

Instead of debuting with a full-length album, Swervedriver released a series of four-track EPs over the span of a year, subscribing to the popular trend in the early '90s. "If you had 4 songs ready-ish, you would record them there and then and put them all out ASAP. No such thing as 'saving songs for the album' back then," explained Hartridge. The tracks were recorded at The Greenhouse & Falconer Studios in London and were all produced by the band. Swervedriver's debut offering, '' Son of Mustang Ford'', was released on 16 July 1990 and included the song "Kill the Superheroes", one of Franklin's first attempts at writing in an alternate tuning. Franklin stated in ''NME'', "''Son of Mustang Ford'' was based on the ''Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas'' idea – driving around, out of your box, over America's landscapes." The EP was characterized as "a chromium-plated piece of automobile romanticism." The group launched the release with an appearance on the John Peel BBC Radio 1 show on 31 July 1990, performing a select B-side from each of their three debut EPs along with the song "Over" (which would not see an official release for 15 years). The release of '' Rave Down'', the second EP in the series, followed in November. Mary Anne Hobbs called its title track "a cyclone of wild, swollen riff machinery that sounds like it's been played with dislocated shoulder joints." Both EPs received favorable reviews and their title singles made their way into the UK indie and metal charts. However, mainstream British music press soon shifted their focus to bands who fit easier into the shoegazer mould. The group began gaining popularity in the United States, and in early 1991 Swervedriver signed with American label A&M Records and went on their first US tour, a brief run of shows in support of Ned's Atomic Dustbin that kicked off at the Marquee in New York City. On 22 July 1991, their third EP, ''Sandblasted'', was released with the title single reaching number 67 on the UK chart and being described as "a head-on collision between guitars raging for chaos."

Swervedriver released their debut album, ''Raise'', on 30 September 1991. It was recorded at The Greenhouse & Falconer Studios and produced by the band, like their prior EPs, and included the title tracks from all three. Regarding the group's overriding fascination with everything automotive, Franklin had said, "the car thing came from twisting around rock 'n' roll imagery. Chuck Berry used to sing about cars. T. Rex used to sing about cars, and being in the car is just a good place to hear music." The album was praised as "incurably romantic, ettingits rocks off" as one of the "truly great albums made this year" and charted 44th in the UK. Swervedriver toured the UK extensively in support of the album and was invited to a second BBC Radio 1 session on 23 November 1991. Producer Alan Moulder, who had worked with fellow Creation acts The Jesus and Mary Chain and My Bloody Valentine, introduced himself to Franklin at a bar at the University of North London's ULU music venue with the interest of working together. Moulder met the band at Greenhouse studios and there they recorded '' Never Lose That Feeling'', Swervedriver's fourth EP, which featured the ''Raise'' outtake "The Watchmakers Hands" and the track "Scrawl and Scream", a slowed-down reworking of "Afterglow".

Swervedriver then embarked on a proper headlining tour of North America with American indie rock act Poster Children

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