Swag
Catch-All (Yep Roc)
By: Gary "Pig" Gold
Imagine a REALLY COOL Traveling Wilburys, or better still, as Yep Roc Records themselves declare, "Nashville's notorious underground supergroup."Ladies and gentlemen, if you haven't already, meet Ken Coomer (Wilco), Robert Reynolds (The Mavericks), Jerry Dale McFadden (Sixpence None The Richer), Not Lame recording artist Doug Powell and -- YES!! -- no less than Cheap Trickster Tom Petersson, herein doing business as Swag on their first full-length collection of extremely powerful pop.
Kicking straight off on two-minutes-flat of sheer wonder with "Lone," there's a solid dozen stand-outs highlighted by "Please Don't Tell" (the great lost very Early Zombies B-side), "Louise" (sounds like nothing short of classic Bill Lloyd), "When She Awoke" (when was the last time you heard vocals this luscious ...outside of those latest Beach Boys Brother re-issues, that is?), "Different Girl" (the great lost late-period Zombies Odyssey And Oracle out-take!), "I'll Get By" (hey, wait: that really IS the real Bill Lloyd on this one!) ...well, you get the picture.
So now get the album, okay?
(PS: even the ending's one of the best I've ever ever heard!)
