We’ve oft admired Free Swim’s particularly, and peculiarly, British humour that comes to the fore in their quirky, observational indie pop. Subjects from Ian McShane, Cardiff City, flapjacks and Pigling Bland have all found favour with the duo and they will release their debut album Lifetime of Treats on the 25th July. With touch points as diverse as Zappa and Beefheart through glam rock and on to … Continue reading Free Swim – Self-appointed Genius
Previously we’ve just offered Best of the Month postings with downloads, but that excludes so many quality songs we’ve decided to just post our favourite tracks – irrespective of whether they are free to download or not. If you like them add them to your Spotify playlists or do the old fashioned thing and download them from iTunes, Bandcamp, or wherever. Anyway, with a bit … Continue reading Mad Mackerel’s Best Of The Months: March – May (Part 1)
We’ve already posted Meal For One, Free Swim’s homage to TV dinners and the delights of Ian McShane’s acting career. From the same EP comes this undeniably infectious homage to some of the mainstay female celebrities (plus some random other things…Cardiff City, the tale of Pigling Bland, flapjacks) that the band have “fallen in love with” over the years. It’s a bit like Art Brut gone madder … Continue reading More From Free Swim
Free Swim’s Meal For One is a brilliant track of catchy indie insouciance, scalpel sharp lyrical minutiae, and overall inventive quirkiness that is rapidly becoming their trademark. This time the focus of their attention is on TV dinners and a long overdue homage to that British institution, actor Ian McShane…it is the sort of thing a vintage Morrissey might have produced if he hadn’t been from Manchester … Continue reading Free Swim – Meal For One
It’s December, so the Christmas specials can begin…and first up is A Rip-Roaring Christmas, a hearty portion of musical Christmas Pudding served up by Surrey’s finest pop-fantasists, Free Swim. Featuring a host of guest appearances from folk they have met on their travels over the past year, this Stollen-esque slice of Rock n’ Roll includes an all-female choir, dueling Fender Stratocasters, and a classic Free Swim … Continue reading MM Shorts 275: Free Swim’s Christmas Offering
On outstanding new track The Smell Of Pregnancy, Free Swim are inventive, experimental, manic, groovy, comedic and surreal and that’s just for starters. They expertly walk a fine line between art-rock swagger and avant-garde mayhem and joyfully channel the excesses of Zappa and Beefheart with a glam-rock undercurrent, suitably quirky British lyrical wordplay and perhaps even a hint of the Batman theme… Watch the similarly unorthodox and … Continue reading Introducing >>> Free Swim
The Mad Mackerel 