SWAPS - SWAPS (Joyful Noise, 2011)

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Though the SWAPS quartet is in its gestation period, its members are far from newcomers. Featuring key contributors of Deerhoof, xbxrx, and Secret Chiefs 3, it yields the assumption that the outfit's debut EP thrives on angular, jarring disarray-- which it does, aptly represented by the cover. The gummy lettering also reveals a certain playfulness, perhaps what formed the quirk of the three acts involved. Talents and backgrounds colliding, these musicians conjure disorienting jam session debris, divided into two 12-minute sides.

This project seems most comparable to past Deerhoof-associated acts such as Gorge Trio and Colossamite, whose sprawling orchestrations were nearly inseparable from free-jazz. xbxrx's boundlessly sporadic Sounds-era influence is plausible as well. Unlike these select groups and releases, however, SWAPS' demand is much greater, sans vocals and pensively seasoned with stop-start schizophrenia inciting two guitars, drums, and vibraphone.

Despite consisting of a mere two tracks, SWAPS isn't designed as a two-part indulgence, made evident by the jagged and off-kilter entry of "Pair Bonds" disintegrating and starting anew as bright hi-hat momentum. Guitarist John Dietrich's noisier antics once exhibited on The Man, the King, the Girl are reincarnated and heavily pronounced on "Aether Defects" in a feedback-laced hodgepodge of bent notes and tumbling percussion. These are confounding studies in discordance.

This 'supergroup' rekindles the experimentation that other artists this experienced wouldn't bother leaning toward. SWAPS isn't explosive for the sake of gaudily spazzing out; every abrasive outburst and subtle divergence is achieved through the members' facile adroitness and precision. These two monoliths are far from improvisational, but SWAPS haven't produced a rigid product either. Mesmoric and invigorating, the quartet attain an energy bound to keep a listener invested throughout its 24 minutes.



[Buy SWAPS from Joyful Noise Recordings]