The Swing Of Things

They Say...

Review by Mark Deming, All Music Guide

The Gurus are a group from Barcelona who recorded The Swing of Things in 2005, though you wouldn't guess it to listen to them -- The Swing of Things blends classic-era U.K. pop and psychedelia with such finesse that you'd be forgiven for thinking this was lost in the archives of some British label after being recorded in 1968. The Swing of Things starts with the potent one-two punch of the hard-psych workout "Flats and Jobs" and the glorious pop hooks of "Tears on the Wardrobe," and the Gurus follow through with an engaging fusion of smarts and energy through the rest of the disc. While the Gurus wear their retro tastes on their sleeves, they're not slaves to a single musical approach; the occasional presence of reverse gear tape loops ("Load in Total Darkness"), vocoders ("Lito"), and wheezy vintage synthesizers ("Soup") suggest they've also been dipping their ears into vintage Krautrock, prog rock, or even some contemporary electronic stuff, and the disc closes with a cracking cover of the Kinks' "I Need You" that will satisfy garage mavens in the audience. The production (by the band) is both clean and full-bodied, and while the English-language lyrics are sometimes just a bit clunky, the harmonies and classic-era phrasings are dead-solid perfect, and the group's musical instincts are glorious throughout. At just a shade over 30 minutes, one of The Swing of Things' few real flaws is that it could use another song or two, but it manages to convey a remarkably well-detailed musical world in a small space of time, and what's here is thoroughly pleasurable.