Swingin' Utters - Poorly Formed

There doesn't seem to be a week that goes past that I don't hear about a band reforming to grab at some past glories.

It always seems to be about fifty fifty if their efforts are worthwhile or not.

For every band who should have left their instruments gathering dust there's those who we welcome back with open arms.

The latter was the case when Swingin' Utters returned in 2011 with 'Here, Under Protest', and from the opening track it was very clear that they weren't looking to reform and tread water, but instead that they were back fully recharged and ready to write some fresh new chapters to their story.

Now here we are a couple of years down the road and they're back again with 'Poorly Formed' and to my ears this sounds like the best album that they have ever done.

It's the perfect example of why some bands shouldn't leave their business unfinished.

There's quite literally no slack on this. No fat that needs trimmed.

The song writing and musicianship is ripping the first coming of the Swingin' Utters a new one.

That's not to have a dig at all their early albums, but more to highlight how far they have come.

It's the most mature material that they have laid down, but at no point have the lost the humour or the fire that was always inherently a part of them.

This isn't a slap in the face for anyone who dared say that the band had had their day, but more a knock-out blow.

Kick ass from start to finish.

Swingin' Utters - Here, Under Protest.

Pretty sweet return from the Californian punksters Swingin' Utters.
Especially as they seem to have spread their wings a bit, and decided that the harder edged punk pop that they've always been known for is yesterdays news to an extent.
So instead of repackaging, or reheating, past glories here they are dipping their toes into a smorgasbord of punky aural delights.
Bloody good toe tapping stuff it is to.
There's a bit of Bad Religions sound in there, and a nod to the street punk of Rancid.
No surprise in any of that because they all spawn from the same west coast gene pool, but the main surprise is in how they are doing it.
This is shrink wrap fresh and along with the recent Face to Face release it's breathing fresh air into what everyone thought was a stagnant scene limping along on it's last legs.
When I was listening to it I was thinking that if they pulled a stunt like The Alarm did, and released it under a different name with some young emo styled punks playing the part of the band for a video then MTV would be jumping all over it claiming them to be the young guns who would be spearheading a US punk rock revival.
Much of the attraction is down to them delivering their most varied sound to date, and the praise for the added oomph shouldn't be held back.
This is a damn fine album, and the best that they have ever managed to pull out of the hat.
It's as if they have stripped everything down to basics and rebuilt it, trimmed anything superfluous to the sound from it all and bolstered it with a newly found sense of maturity.
In a sense you could say it's the rebirth of the band.