Swell Maps C21

These post-punk veterans – Swell Maps C21 broke up in 1980, and of the original line-up Epic Soundtracks (Kevin Godfrey) and Nikki Sudden (Adrian Godfrey) have sadly passed away in the meantime – make scratchy, noisy DIY songs that slide into your ears without a trace of elegance, carving their way into your head, and, at a time when »post-punk« is once again a buzzword, also offend younger fans of the genre. The underrated British band’s off-putting sound stems from a very simple philosophy: our art would no longer be cool if it sounded good; the magic would be gone if you could even begin to understand the lyrics; where would we end up if we could actually play our instruments? So it’s fitting that Swell Maps C21, according to their own statements, only rehearse once every six months. The vocals often sound like slurring or moaning, while the instrumentation is sometimes reminiscent of the krautrock of Neu! and Can. The way their banging clamour often hides well-written pop melodies was also a major influence on better-known groups acts like Pavement and Sonic Youth.