from the LP A Trip to Marineville, Rough Trade Records, 1979Brothers Kevin & Adrian Godfrey, a.k.a. Epic Soundtracks & Nikki Sudden (two of the infinitely coolest aliases ever), couldn’t have picked a better name for their band if they’d tried, as Swell Maps truly charted their own course during their existence, leaving behind an enigmatic atlas of sorts, which many future band’s would attempt to pillage and use as a navigational tool in their own experiments with sound. This song, like so many of their outlandish sonic hymns, refuses to be classified or categorized: you can hear a little bit of early Ubu or the Electric Eels (although it’s doubtful the Godfrey’s were able to hear any Eels across the pond), some Stooges, maybe even a touch of their native Groundhogs; ultimately, what they have left us is a wonderful and onion-like mess, songs that will reveal more to the listener not just on the second or third listen, but on the 20th and 30th listens as well. The tempo and delivery of these spoken verses are the partial inspiration for the Butthole Sufers’ mainstream hit “Pepper”…I have no way to verify that, but I dare Gibby to say otherwise…
