Birmingham, Great Britain’s second largest city, is a place, which is only partially cozy in the 1970s, shaken by IRA bombings, shaped by massive social tensions and an economic decline – but at least blessed with an extremely lively music scene. The brothers Godfrey, born in London, grow up in the nearby Solihull, Kevin gets the artist name Epic Soundtracks, his older brother Adrian is now called Nikki Sudden. Because even as a teenager, they found the Swell Maps, together with Stephen Bird, stage name Jowe Head and later a member of the Television Personalities.
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The Swell Maps are still liked to be bagged under Postpunk, but if you hear the compilation whatever happens next … with early songs from 1974/75, pre-punk seems to describe their music much more aptly. It was Lo-Fi-Diy-Rock, often included in the parental living room on cassette recorder and heavily influenced by avant-garde, herb and garage skirt. At that time, the Swell Maps are an absolute nerd band that experiment with almost all sound generators who can be found in the household between vacuum cleaners and toy saxophone.
After the first attempts to walk in 1972, however, it takes a few more years before they master their instruments, Nikki Sudden learns singing and the band finds their own style. Drummer Epic Soundtracks, inspired by CAN drummer Jaki Liebezeit, derives his name from their album Soundtracks. And one of the first to stand out the truly extraordinary swell Maps is consequently DJ John Peel, confessed can and herb rock fan and basically sounds everything that sounds new and fresh and exciting.
It is really amazing how innovative this teenage band was back then
He invites the Swell Maps to his famous sessions on BBC Radio 1 three times, the first takes place in October 1978. At that time, these eccentric school friends from the Midlands can only show a high-speed reggae track called “Read About Seymour”. delivers.
The second work Jane from Occupied Europe, in 1980 in 4th place on the charts, also contributes a few songs, as well as a few rarities such as “Bleep and Booster Come Round for Tea” and “Bandits One Five”, which should delight all fans of The Fall. “Big Empty Field” sounds like Sonic Youth, but before it was founded. It is really astonishing how innovative this teenage band was at the time, as she ordered the field, on which the pastels and pavement could grow successfully shortly afterwards. In 1982 it was unfortunately the end of the Swell Maps, Nikki Sudden developed into a romantic troubadour and became part of the Jacobites who gave you from 1984 with enchanting songs.
Brother Epic Soundtracks, however, appeared at these Immortal Souls, Red Krayola and Crime & the City Solution before he died in November 1997 at the age of 38. Nikki Sudden, who had cultivated an unhealthy rock star lifestyle at the Jacobites, followed him in 2006 after a long phase of excessive drug abuse.
The author of these lines was allowed to host him a few times as a co-owner of a cafe bar in Hamburg, Niels Koppruch’s regular guest was also at the counter. There were the main foods of these large, busy dandies from England and red wine. In the Absenz of the Godfrey brothers, it got stuck on Jowe Head to process the history of the Swell Maps. On the one hand with the book “Swell Maps 1972 1980”, which is now unfortunately out of stock, on the other hand with the compilation Mayday signals. Fortunately, the John Peel Sessions close another gap.
This review first appeared around MusikExpress 10/25.