Graham Reid | | <1 min read
You can guess from this Auckland trio's name they aren't in this game for the pop hits.
They deliver often exciting Nineties post-punk and powered-up pop (Gravois Park), menacingly low-slung material verging on drone-rock (the standout Mind) and yet can unexpectedly seduce with more quiet-loud material (Small Plates) and something approaching uneasy pop-rock (Idea of the South, the excellent Redactor's Dilemma with Hayley Fisher's vocals adding a further dimension of disorientation ).
At times they hit a midpoint between aural punishment and quiet threat (the shifting dynamics of Chain Mail) but there are also backdrops of widescreen shoegaze drone (the declamatory Terra Nullius) and surging motorik rock (ZZK).
There is seething anger and a sense of dreams damaged or denied throughout and what Swallow the Rat successfully negotiate is how to pull all their sonic and lyrical ideas into discrete songs which stand on their own merits, yet cohere into an album.
No, not for everyone of course, but if you are prepared to put aside the name and start with the oceanic surge of Gravois Park you'll probably be ready to hold the handrail and get on board for the ride.
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This album can be heard and bought at bandcamp here. It is also available locally on vinyl
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