Swimsuit - Swimsuit

 

By: Nick Habisch

Rating:

Music can spark many emotions and memories, bring the mind to a place, either far away or close by. It can revitalize the soul, bring happiness or sorrow, but most of all, music makes us feel, and feeling is something that Michigan based band Swimsuit brings with their self-titled debut album.

Swimsuit’s sound could best be described as pop-punk surf music, although this does not confine them to any sort of cliche, nor does it express exactly everything that incorporates the sound the band has brought to the table. Tracks like “Evaporation”, “The Grit”, and “Rat Pack” envelope the listener in sounds that would be perfect for any late night bonfire by the ocean, while tracks like “Empire” and “Town In My Mind” are more akin to noise/jam band style and keep Swimsuit’s palette of music quite diverse.

Musically the band is young, and their budding talent shows, as well as the flaws of their youth. The guitars play everything from distorted surf melodies like the intro in “At The Falls”, to an even more chilled out tone in Winter Water, to noisier tones throughout the self-titled album. The drums keep things going and along with the bass, provide a nice backing to the sound Swimsuit is going for. The vocals are pretty standard pop-punk female fare (aside from “Outside Your Window), and this is both a good and bad quality for the bands sound, as they’re solid, but nothing listeners haven’t heard before.

Swimsuit tries hard to create a unique sound that combines surf-rock, noise, and pop-punk elements, and it works a little bit, but the youth of the band is evident. The guitars tend to play very similar sounding chords and riffs, and the drums sometimes seem to disappear completely, whether in terms of interest or even sound. The recording itself sounds rough and reverb-soaked; the band may have been going for this approach to give it a more “jamming on the beach” sound, and although it hits that spot, it still might irk some listeners.

Swimsuit is a young band, as their self-titled debut album shows. There is promise and talent, this group just needs to distance themselves a little more from the pack and expand their sound a bit.   Swimsuit’s first album will hit the spot for fans of this style, but listeners outside this music niche should wait for the next album down the road.

Bandcamp - http://swimsuit.bandcamp.com/

Buy it - http://speakertreerecords.blogspot.com/2011/05/sunlight.html