I don’t know if an album has started out as strongly as Surfing Strange this whole year. “Dust In The Gold Sack” is a perfect piece of fast paced rock, with tone changes and a ramshackle style that is hard not to love. It shows a much stronger side to Swearin’ than maybe we are used to hearing from the band. Surfing Strange plays with a lot of different styles. It gives the album a feel of a band that is still trying to figure out just what they want to sound like. For some bands this might make for a bad album, but Swearin’ have the ability to take this process and make a great, albeit uneven album. There is truly a lot at play here. First off, songs are pretty well split between Allison Crutchfield and Kyle Gilbride. Both are strong vocalists in their own way, and each have their strong songs on the album. The aforementioned “Dust In The Gold Sack” is Allison’s strongest, and Kyle answers it on the next song, “Watered Down.” It never really feels like there a schism between the two, as the music holds up on each singer’s songs. I have to admit I found myself wishing Allison had more vocal time, though. But that is just personal preference. Both could easily carry this band by themselves, that they are able to seamlessly switch between each other just gives Swearin’ another layer to work with. So let’s get to the uneven nature of Surfing Strange. It starts out blindingly fast and up tempo, and then progressively works into slower and longer songs. It picks up stronger and upbeat again near the end. This isn’t to say the slower songs are bad. “Mermaid” has this feeling of some pretty classic emo, and “Melanoma” bursts at the midway point into one of the best songs on the album. It’s not about quality, it’s simply the placement. It makes Surfing Strange feel somewhat like a chore. Otherwise, it is an amazing album. There is a lot going on in the 33 minute run time. There are emotional songs like the standout “Loretta’s Flowers”, and some great, more laid back rock such as the finale, “Curdled.” Surfing Strange feels more like a collection of singles than a complete album. for a relatively new band, things like this are a process. Where it lacks in cohesiveness, Surfing Strange is able to regain in simple, good songwriting. Someday Swearin’ will put out a congruent album, and I don’t doubt that it will be a game changer. But for now, this is pretty damn excellent.
Review by Justin Owlett. Follow him on Twitter at @justowle.