After hearing Michael Gira's work as Angels of Light for the past however many years, it's a shock to hear him back at it with Swans again. Swans being the band that made a habit of pummeling everyone's eardrums in the most pleasurable way possible for years and years. The new album sits somewhere in the middle, nine-and-a-half minute opener "No Words/No Thoughts" acting as a good primer to just what the band is about in 2010. And what they are about is taking that pounding loudness and harnessing it into a palatable structure. Sure, at nearly ten minutes you'd expect some fatigue to set in, but instead it just builds and builds—layers of guitar and chimes and an elastic bassline rolling smoothly underneath it all. The second track, "Reeling the Liars In," is much closer to Gira's Angels of Light stuff—baritone, melancholy but full-bodied folk music. Basically, My Father... is a deceptively brutal record that finds beauty in layers upon layers upon layers of loudness. You can listen to the whole thing at the link below, and we recommend turning it up as loud as you're able.
Stream: Swans, My Father Will Guide Me Up A Rope To The Sky (via P4K)
