SWANS

Challenging listeners since 1982, barring a 13-year period of inactivity around the aughts, Michael Gira and SWANS have worked with fairly consistent line-ups sculpting genre-defying experimental rock. The talent he's brought in, either short or long-term, has been quite remarkable. We're talking about artists like Jarboe, Thurston Moore and Ted Parsons, but time has revealed that it has ultimately been the Michael Gira show. SWANS' leftfield, oftentimes subdued madness carries forth now with their sixteenth studio album, "The Beggar", a two CD effort that creeps and crawls with a seductive and menacing quality that's hard to shake off.

SWANS, like countless other career bands, were dramatically stunted by the pandemic, but conditions were optimal for Gira to express catharsis when he wrote "The Beggar". Despite the down-trodden gloom that's woven throughout, the release showcases Gira's elation when recording the album in Berlin with his friends and cohorts. That dichotomy of depression and dread versus optimism and excitement lent itself to a vibrant tension throughout the album.

While the New York City-based ensemble was initially revered for its abrasion and misanthropy, Jarboe's involvement many years ago spearheaded a penchant for melody. SWANS went on to incorporate varied styles like noise rock, post-rock and post-punk, if genre tags matter, which they clearly don't in Gira's eyes. In stark contrast to their more brutish, noisy industrial sound of the early days, the punchy, almost child-like song "Michael is Done" or the sultry and sleazy "Paradise Is Mine" are more in tune with SWANS' shape-shifting nature.

"Los Angeles: City of Death", however, bangs with a moderately and relatively more up-tempo punk beat, an energy that progressively builds on one of the most adrenaline-fueled songs of the generally folkish-sounding album that's ripe with an avant-garde kind of Americana. This isn't a bad thing. SWANS brilliantly leverage calm and soothing music here and on the groovy, bouncy title cut, pointing toward a vulnerability that's delivered in a way that's incredibly positive. They do so with a heavier outpouring of emotion than what you'll hear from most distorted bands.

With "The Beggar", SWANS successfully reach new and different creative heights, which is really what their known for. The Covid-era may have knocked SWANS down, but there doesn't appear to be an end in sight until Gira says so.