RIOT 77
A CD advance of what is to be a six track 7 inch. Pissed off sounding hardcore that incorporates both muscular rhythms and melodic overtones. A sense of hardcores history but with a modern approach. It pulls no punches and it's obvious the words and music are fuelled by both rage and passion.
REBEL NOISE
This a 6-song offering on a 7" record that clocks in at 9 minutes, well 9 minutes and 27 seconds, but who's counting from Sounds of Swami. "Halcyon Days", (halcyon definition: tranquil, happy) is far from that. There is a lot of angst on this record from the opening track, "briefcase of ignorance" to the last track, my favourite, "your name not here".
But hell, it's a just easier to play the whole damn record. You can feel the energy bounce off the grooves of the 6-songs on this outing by Sounds of Swami.
For fans of Bad Religion and Fugazi, (I can hear the influence of both these bands) this 7" would be worth picking up at your local record store or where ever you can find it.
I'll be looking for more from Sounds of Swami in the future and you should too.
LIGHTS GO OUT FANZINE
After playing with SOS a couple of years ago I was looking forward to hearing what their new stuff sounded like. I remember being really impressed with them live and this CD does definitely not disappoint. It’s hard to really stick them into a genre, somewhere between post hardcore with some grunge and some crusty punk as well. This is a damn impressive six track due out on 7” in the near future on TNS Records. There’s not a bad track amongst them but the pick of the bunch for me was “Look At Me”. This is definitely a band you should be keeping an eye out for and get yourself a copy of the vinyl. I just hope they have some new t-shirts as well as my one is pretty worn out now. This CD is well mixed, well produced and well worth your time.
SCANNER ZINE (NEW ZEALAND)
Mightily impressive 7" from this British band. You get six tracks of catchy, mid-paced but concise, corrosive HC that brings to mind the direct accessibility of CONSUMED mixed with the discordant, power-packed taughtness of KIDS NEAR WATER. Side A seems to be the more straightforward, with three raging slices of HC with opener ‘Briefcase Of Ignorance’ and ‘Lapels’ being specific highlights. Flip the vinyl and you get another three equally insistent but slightly more challenging tracks with ‘The Clue Is In The Title’ providing some studio-trickery surprises and closer ‘Your Name Not Here’ leaving me gagging for more. This apparently showcases the band’s more HC side and an impressive side of the band it is. Vocally this is powerful, argumentative and, most importantly, clear while the band is tight, crisp and formidable at playing fast ‘core with Revolution Summer discordant bridges.
MASS MOVEMENT
Melodic hardcore with obvious old-school influences ranging from the skate-punk of JFA to the genuinely emotional sounds of Dag Nasty to the passionate hardcore of Gorilla Biscuits, the band still manage to retain a fresh sound, so think Refused. SOS employ both dual and bro’hood style vocal sing-a-longs to maximum effect. ‘Look At Me’ might well be my favourite punk song of the last 5 years. Good stuff lads.
ICE CREAM FOR QUO FANZINE
Another blast of thrashy punk/hardcore from TNS. With repeated plays these short, fast direct and powerful tunes reveal unexpected subtleties. 'Briefcase of Ignorance' is an excellent song title.
WHAT WOULD HENRY ROLLINS DO?
Briefcase Of Ignorance’ starts of the EP with a bang, very old-school skate-punk sounding hardcore, a short but incredibly fantastic song. ‘Lapels’ continues the flow of hardcore and before I realise we are onto Track 3 ‘Look At Me’ a more chuggy affair with a slight metal feel in the versus’. ‘Bandwagon Hi-jack’ was my favourite song of the 6, fast with a load of unexpected stabs, breakdowns and shout a long chorus. ‘The Clue Is In The Title’ is a one minute wonder of blinding fury with ‘Your Name Not Here’ wrapping it up nicely. 6 tracks in 9 minutes, blindingly good. Seriously I really liked the Vent EP, but man Halcyon Days has truly blown me away, I feel the songs are a lot more cohesive and I totally get where this band are coming from now. Yep, this has to win the accolade of being REVIEW OF THE ISSUE!
MILD PERIL FANZINE
Briefcase Of Ignorance ’ starts of the EP with a bang, very old-school skate-punk sounding hardcore, a short but incredibly fantastic song. ‘Lapels’ continues the flow of hardcore and before I realise we are onto Track 3 ‘Look At Me’ a more chuggy affair with a slight metal feel in the versus’. ‘Bandwagon Hi-jack’ was my favourite song of the 6, fast with a load of unexpected stabs, breakdowns and shout a long chorus. ‘The Clue Is In The Title’ is a one minute wonder of blinding fury with ‘Your Name Not Here’ wrapping it up nicely. 6 tracks in 9 minutes, blindingly good. Seriously I really liked the Vent EP, but man Halcyon Days has truly blown me away, I feel the songs are a lot more cohesive and I totally get where this band are coming from now. Yep, this has to win the accolade of being REVIEW OF THE ISSUE!
PUNKTASTIC
Forget the niceties. Forget the long rambling review. This is just good. Simple as that. Keighley’s Sound of Swami – as dodgy a name as that might be – have made a very, very fine EP. It’s 6 tracks, all minimal length. It’s a cross between Fugazi, Gorilla Biscuits and a few northern blokes adding their accent into the mix.
Everything about this has retro written all over it. The production, the sound, the intensity – it’s a case of same meat, different gravy – taking as influence some of the best bands (just check the band’s list of influences on their myspace) and playing like those bands, except reminding you its 2009 and it’s Yorkshire.
Not a lot more to say than that. Its finished almost before it’s started, but I just whole heartedly approve.
STREET VOICE MUSIC
Halycon Days are a melodic HC band from Keighly and on the basis of this sic track EP I'd say they're worth checking out. OK so they aren't the best HC band in the world but what you get here is an honest release and more importantly there's none of that thrash metal shite that most HC bands have aligned themselves too these days! There's some decent numbers on here such as 'Briefcase Of Ignorance', 'Look At Me' and 'The Clue Is In The Title'. Tight musicianship and good vocal delivery. I await their forthcoming album. 7.5/10
LEEDS MUSIC SCENE
Keighley's Sounds of Swami don't hang about on 7" 'Halcyon Days,' blasting through six songs in seventeen minutes. The average running time is between one minute, and one minute and a half, but Sounds of Swami still manage to pack a fair amount into each track, by playing everything at triple speed. Consequently, by the end of those seventeen minutes, you'll either be an exhausted, nervous wreck, or be having the time of your life and hitting the repeat button.
The 'Halcyon Days' rocket blasts off with the fantastically-titled 'Briefcase of Ignorance,' one and a half minutes of hardcore-influenced punk with a melodic undercurrent that's not immediately obvious.
Tearing along on manic drumbeats, 'Briefcase of Ignorance' ricochets between shouty singular vocals, shouty gang vocals, backing vocals, main vocals and a crackly voiceover. The vocal ricochet alone will leave your head spinning. Squeezed inbetween these whiplash vocals, is the occasional semi-sung, tuneful vocal hook that ensures this song's frightening and addictive in equal measures.
'Lapels' places less emphasis on velocity. In comparison to 'Briefcase of Ignorance,' 'Labels' has a more poised feel, with rumbling drumbeats, lurching riffs and some longer, smoother guitar lines. It's a coiled, darker and more subtly gnashing take on the hardcore-punk sound.
'Look At Me' is perhaps the most interesting song on this EP. Sounds of Swami lay unexpectedly smooth and melodic vocals over a spiky punk-rock clatter and pedal-to-the-metal drumbeats. You'll be unsure whether to concentrate on those euphoric vocals, or the anger that's raging beneath. In the end, you'll probably keep switching between the two. Sounds of Swami have pulled off a small miracle in making this song work.
The verses of 'Bandwagon hi-jack' see Sounds of Swami lose some of their melodic edge, and begin to sound a bit messy. Things quickly pick up though, as the band unfurl some longer, classier riffs for the chorus, and slip into a smoother vocal style.
Thankfully, although 'Bandwagon hi-jack' keeps returning to those clattering, hardcore-influenced passages, it never quite becomes as incoherent as on that first verse.
Both the EPs longest and most structurally complex song, 'Bandwagon hi-jack' lacks the simple punk thrust of this EPs more straightforward tracks. Sounds of Swami are at their best when they blast out one-minute-odd nerve-rattlers.
And this is exactly what they do with 'The Clue is in The Title,' a one minute and one second long jumble of riotous, punk-influenced sound that would be completely unlistenable if it was half a minute longer.
Their guitarist bashes out some random, abrasive riffs that are like someone taking a cheese grater to your bones, and the vocals are completely impenetrable. But, this burst of frothing-at-the-mouth vocals and sand-paper riffing, is an enjoyable sucker punch - and Sounds of Swami were spot-on, keeping it so short.
'Your Name Not Here' is surprisingly varied for a hardcore-influenced song. The latter part of the verses may make the formulaic hardcore clatter, splattered with plenty of shouty punk vocals, but the first half alternates between a military drumbeat and some nastily-churning riffing that's surprisingly complex.
The chorus takes a more punkish route, with a head-spinning vocal ricochet similar to 'Briefcase of Ignorance.' Main, backing and gang vocals, all fly around like shrapnel. Added to this are galloping drumbeats and lightening riffs, in a combination that's guaranteed to get the adrenaline flowing.
'Halcyon Days' is hardcore-punk that's played flat-out from the opening notes, to the closing bars of the final track. The vocal interplay is dizzying, and Sounds of Swami never over-complicate matters by trying to expand on their ideas. This is six shots of adrenaline-fuelled punk, and Sounds of Swami must have laid waste to a fair few DIY punk shows with tracks like these in their arsenal.
YOU CAN'T SAY NO TO HOPE FANZINE
Ok, this is a promo CDr for a 7" being put out by TNS records, and it's pretty good. Six songs of melodic hardcore that rattle along at a fair old speed with cool vocals that mean you can hear the words nice and clear. Lyrics seem pretty sound, although there's no lyric sheet. I'm not overly sure who i'd compare it to (i'm shit at writing record reviews...) but if you like propagandhi and stuff like that you should enjoy it.
MIRCEA MTP ZINE (ROMANIA)
Punk rock with hardcore, a crazy mix, quick and at the same time melodic, alongside with political and social lyrics. 6 tracks, a few moments of melodic fast hc for those of you who also want something else! We’re waiting for news this summer.
CYPHERMUSIC.NET
'Halcyon Days' pulls no punches in it's execution - six fast, loud songs that condense the usual Sounds of Swami into a smaller, more compact little package. Make no mistake though - the musicianship and creativity present is in no way diminished along with shorter songs, feeling rather more like a highly concentrated punk rock shot in the arm than Swami-lite.
From the outset the band set the pace, 'Briefcase of Ignorance' is a breathless dash through the Swami manifesto, a sugar-less smack about the head of the haters, imbued with straight up punk-rock ethics of graft and escape. Through the subsequent tracks Swami manage to keep the momentum without repeating themselves - no mean feat considering that time is as short as it is.
Musically, Swami are as 'on it' as ever - it's tight and complex, and you'll noice new things every time. Raw, DIY and live - and very much sounding it (in a good way). 'Lapels' is all structure - written with dynamic control in mind but losing none of the intensity along the way - again, no mean feat.
While the musicianship and song-crafting is impeccable, the EP's main merits sit with the vocals - lyrics with reality and energy, gang vocals a-plenty and the best individual performances yet from every member. 'Bandwagon Hi-Jack' is highly caustic and angry, but melancholic and passionate at the same time - and with a super-solid musical backing, the song stands out among the best the band has to offer.
On 'The Clue is in the Title', lead vocal duties are handled by guitarist Luke Yates, whose vocal style sits with the music and works well - the song itself is a little different to the rest of the EP, sitting more with the posi-hardcore likes of Chief and Good Clean Fun - still retaining that Swami sound, but a little different. It's moments like these that show some of the range the band have in their proverbial arsenal, and they shine because of it.
'Your Name Not Here' rounds everything off nicely; in the context of this record it's almost laid back in it's method but not lacking the verve of the previous tracks, and by the end kicks you in the face one last time before the EP disappears in a puff of smoke before your very ears.
This is probably where my only real gripe with this EP sits - while completely necessary for the product medium (7" Vinyl), on a musical level and as a listener I'm definitely left wanting afterwards. How this is perceived is up to you - I choose to think positively about it though: I listened again immediately. The songs probably wouldn't be as concise and streamlined without the restrictions on length, and since we know more is on the way, I think I can live with something like this until it arrives.
Sounds of Swami have excelled here - be it the tight, impressive songcraft or the surprisingly slick DIY production, 'Halcyon Days' will be remembered as one of their finest moments.
Roll on the album.