Everything that ever was and ever will be is entirely based on the many concepts that make up the many guises of creation. Whether we are discussing the theory of creationism, in which everything that exists was created by a omnipotent force, or the cosmological theory that physical creation came from elementary particles coalescing in the big bang afterglow, then the spark has to be generated from something or someone. In this particular case we are discussing the creation of art in its aural form and the spark and facilitator of this art was known simply as Creation Records. Formed by the maverick sociopath Alan McGee and his cohort Dick Green in 1983 and named after the nineteen sixties band The Creation, its single-minded crusade was to simply release the best music ever, a challenge that proved to be more than achievable even with the array of chemically deranged egocentrical waifs and strays that were recruited.
Since then the bands in question have produced an assortment of musical styles with different levels of success quickly followed by implosions, breakdowns, breakups and the usual myriad of fall out scenarios whereupon the bands embers have finally seceded. In the past few years the embers have begun to glow again, maybe due to the lack of quality music or simply cashing in on the latest resurgence in popularity in all things shoegaze/psyche and downright noise that creation were once famous for. Bands such as House of Love and My Bloody Valentine have returned with new material that is good without being great, whilst The Jesus and Mary Chain have adopted the tried and trusted album anniversary tour formula (QRO live review), and rumours are rife that the band that moved the label to the monster that nearly was the undoing of McGee, namely Oasis, have plans to reform in 2016.
Swervedriver were the label’s anachronism, not grungy enough to challenge the likes of the Seattle scene but not dreamy enough to stand alongside their label mates Ride in the shoegaze end of the musical spectrum. Their previous nadir was reached in 1993 with the Mezcal Head album, that combined both genres in a powerful yet melodic masterpiece, and after a nearly two decade hiatus they are back on the road to promote this year’s 2015 release, I Wasn’t Born To Lose You, when they appeared at the O2 Academy Birmingham on Friday, the 15th of May.
The set was almost a two way split between the aforementioned albums, the opening “Autodidact” erred on the dream-pop end of the spectrum but built to a layered fuzzed out storm surge as it reached its shimmering peak. “Last Rites” was a My Bloody Valentine pastiche but with a stronger melodic dynamic, and proved to be one of the evening’s highlights. After what seems a truncated set they were off, but immediately returned for the rumbling bass and crystalline guitars that open “Everso” from the latest record, and ended on “Duel” from Mezcal Head. Swervedriver have achieved something that almost no bands from their original era have managed, which is to return with an album of sublime quality that matches if not surpasses their original releases, and for that they should be proud and be allowed to demand the upmost respect.
