The Swerving Corpse

They Say...

Review by Ned Raggett, All Music Guide

Having established their abilities and their clear love for bliss-out feedback on their debut album, the members of Lenola brought a little more individual flair to the table on The Swerving Corpse, the group's quite fine sophomore release. While much of what made Lenola what it was remains -- the Kevin Shields-inspired tremolo guitar style, the love of volume and candy-coated overkill, and so forth -- more of the winsomely wayward pop hinted at on The Last 10 Feet of the Suicide Mile starts showing up here. Lenola's ear for My Bloody Valentine/Boo Radleys-styled wonder is happily intact, to be sure -- the lovely conclusion to "Spazco," with accompanying toy piano chimes, and the opening swirls of "Plates Must Spin" demonstrate that much, to the group's credit. But perhaps taking a cue from where the Boo Radleys went next after their early efforts, a greater range starts to surface, to everyone's benefit. It can be as simple as the bells chiming under all the noise on the opening "Warm Dog Over the Fence" or the acoustic guitar over phased drums on "Test Disaster," but that's often enough to give the extra charge and appeal needed. Perhaps the most notable change is a newfound confidence in the singing -- it's generally much more clear and straightforward, partially due to some careful holding back here and there (see "Super Guns" or the calmer parts of "Subtraction: Addition's Tricky Pal"), partially due to just going on ahead and projecting a lot more. Odd little tempo changes here and there and an ear for untoward scales and even more varied production -- sometimes thick and a touch muffled, other times almost (in a way) crystal clear -- keep the edge of gentle invention up without losing the easily accessible feel of the performances as a whole.