Swans - My Father Will Guide Me Up A Rope To The Sky

After a 13-year hiatus Swans prove they've still got it

Posted Saturday, 25 September 2010 in

Swans

Rating: 9

Michael Gira’s decision to revive Swans after a 13-year hiatus pays dividends with this striking, often startling, album that marries the brutalism of ‘Greed’, the lyricism of ‘Love Of Life’ and ‘Soundtracks Of The Blind’’s bold experimentation. The charmingly-titled ‘You Fucking People Make Me Sick’ features a creepy turn by Gira protégé Devendra Banhart, ‘Jim’, a tribute song to musical maverick Foetus, has a wonderfully unexpected ‘na-na-na-na’ chorus, while the cacophonous opening of ‘No Words / No Thoughts’ and the pulverising guitar barrage of ‘Eden Prison’ is beauty at its very bleakest. Make no mistake, Gira has his mojo back and Swans are very much alive.

Neil Gardner

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