(Single from album, "Razorblade Suitcase")
As it goes, I have come to rather like Nirvana. The soulful melancholia of the grunge movement is often misinterpreted as disgruntled misery, or depressing noise, loud and pointless or just plain violent, and these are all pretty harsh on the genre I feel. Alright, so not every Nirvana song was genius - yes, "Lithium" and "Smells Like Teen Spirit" were, but others were not so good; some stuff from "In Utero" even has a touch of the inappropriate about it...
From grunge spawned post-grunge; bands like Nickelback and Foo Fighters existed afterwards and though their sound is more associated with a more typical rock sound, grunge should not be forgotten as the foundation for this sonic step forward. Bands like Bush, active in the mid-to-late '90s, borrowed from other genres like folk and jangle-pop to create a newer, more glamorous, radio-friendly sound. Kurt Cobain himself had begun experimenting with stylist departure from core-grunge sounds on "Nevermind" with songs like "Something In The Way" - as a massive fan of the Beatles, he understood musical diversity well...
This song, my first encounter with Bush, is beautiful. It opens with a crunchy and creeping guitar, fronted by a vocal that sounds very similar, in fact, to Cobain. At 0:24, the heavy sound explodes into being and the dense rhythm guitars suddenly play host to an overdriven and very melodic lead, meandering wildly behind the grainy vocal. Everything quietens again for the second verse, where the chomping bass-line comes properly into earshot for the first time, the treble knob whacked up to 100% and with every clicking stroke of the thick strings audible alongside the accompanying note. Then, just to keep things exciting, at 2:19 a discordant wind-up screeches through into a solo of sorts that begins masterfully moaning just 6 seconds later. By 2:55, the immense euphonic mood-swing is set back on gentle before yet another chorus, that yells in the conformist face of pop, making a boldly artistic statement, before finishing on the sensitive bass strokes in the final 16 seconds after a moment of furious feedback.
The best thing about "Swallowed" is it's accessible intentions which are somewhat less disturbing than those of, say, Nirvana's "Heart Shaped Box". The sound is one that has come on and developed from the days of Nirvana, and the lyrics, whilst not exactly optimistic or flowery, are more relatable and artistic in their poetic distortion of love than the blackened uterus dedication of the aforementioned Nirvana track (though there is, oddly enough, a reference in "Swallowed" to 'blackened lungs').
I love that the aggressiveness of the music, brash and thumping isn't interfered with or marred by lyrics that are overtly dark, or twisted to the point that the song is sensationalised by it's macabre quality, which can damage the value of the tune in comparison.
At the same time, there is something to be said for that really angry, Seattle sound. Rather than better it, Bush take a different stance in what can best be described as a genre boxing ring, with two somewhat opposing but simultaneously similar corners/interpretations. Both grunge and post-grunge are worth the investment in time of any rock fan, though for me personally, there's something more to be had from the calculated intricacies of what came after the seemingly more developmental warblings of "Nevermind"...
★★★★★
Versions of “Swallowed”
Album Version - 4:52
UK Radio Edit - 4:08
Australian Radio Edit - 4:22
Toasted Both Sides Please Goldie Remix - 5:50