Mothers, Swim Deep Review

I remember watching This Morning (or whatever it was called back then) while I was at junior school and I overheard that the 80s were having a revival and that neon leg warmers were the nouveau rage. It was a hideous time in fashion and society in which every boy had to have a Primark tee with neon trim, yuck.

The 80s rebirth is gone. Throughout the country we are seeing the 90s come back with a serious vengeance. Dance music is the coolest, everyone is embracing the 'wavy garm' and some people are still talking about an Oasis reunion. In indie, the decade's influence can be heard all over feel good Superfood and Peace's mismatch of Happy People. If Peace are the Father, and Superfood the Son, then fellow Brum band Swim Deep are undoubtedly the Holy Spirit that complete the Holy Trinity of 90s-ish albums released this year.

Swim Deep have been around for a while, their release Where The Heaven Are We in 2013 was a milky mix of drab pop and indie rock- generally considered a bit of a lame duck. Their new album Mothers takes them on a completely different route, with far more bite and creativity. This bite comes as drugged up, spaced out psychedelic tunes with notes of Primal Scream and The Happy Mondays. On first listen you'll probably say "weird", but when you get to the bones of Mothers it's far out.

The record itself sounds like space. Using larger than life synths you can feel the scale the band wanted, sometimes making you feel like you're Sandra Bullock floating aimlessly. One Great Song And I Could Change The World opens with a bold statement that there's going to be no wetness on Mothers with huge ostentatious vocals over catchy bass lines it's a hard hitter clocking in at just less than four minutes. I wouldn't be surprised if James Cameron rings up Swim Deep to soundtrack Avatar 2 . Heavenly Moment soars with baggy psychedelia and ecstasy laced Fueiho Boogie rips the rule book to shreds with eight minutes of Acid House insanity. In comparison to WTHAW, Swim Deep are growing up shamelessly and without any inhibitions.

In the brief moments that the five piece stay on Earth they disappoint with twee predictability. On songs like Green Conduit and Caremelise the pace hits a road block, as we are asked to listen to lyrics about leprechauns causing wide spread eye rolls.The Happy Mondays pastiche To My Brother questions why Swim Deep would ever slow it down less than a Bez paced shuffle. Some moments can also feel a little overworked and too strange such as the mechanical and sigh-worthy opening to Is There Anybody Out There. 

As a whole, Mothers works due to its sheer courage and creativity. There are little times in music that a band can change their whole style with such success. The jewel in this exciting re-birth is certainly Namaste; encompassing pop melodies, OTT synth lines and more special effects than a JJ Abrams flick you can't help but laugh and widen your eyes at what Swim Deep have achieved.