SWERVEDRIVER Schallplatten & CDs

Review: Relatively recently reformed 'Camden lurch' icons Swervedriver release their first new music in more than five years. Two tracks were recorded with Ride's Mark Gardner, at his OX4 Sound studio in Oxfordshire. The other two were recorded - quite surprisingly - by Rick Beato, who we all know is usually interviewing great guitar players. Well, he clearly has ability himself and is a massive fan of the band so is well suited. The format of this release is what's quite surprising and refreshing. We often see bands releasing EPs when they first start out and Swervedriver haven't put out one since the early 90s when they were on Alan McGee's Creation Records and riding the shoegaze boom that had begun with the likes of My Bloody Valentine and Dinosaur Jr. It's a thoroughly welcome return to the shelves from one of Britain's most treasured bands.

Review: Straight outta shoegaze central, Oxford UK, since 1989, Swervedriver have been providing us with smoothly distorted guitars, vocals of refreshing reverberation and just those hints of angst and melancholia to get you through the decade. Future Ruins, like a lot of post and alt-rock to hit the shelves these days has touches of nihilism abound, although it's no secret Swervedriver have been offering this atmosphere for aeons longer than most. For fans of bands like Dinosaur Jr. yes, Swervedriver's latest effort remains firmly within the grungey and pastel confines of shoegaze, and with the genre's hey day missed so much but so many, it's never a pain to revisit the glory days of motion picture soundtracks.