"Tearing through / And wake up with my eyes / To this afternoon / Which seems to waste by..."
The artful wistful decadence and fury of "Driftwood Shoes" by San Diego, California based band Night Swims, feels like it is seeded by 90's UK post punk and 70's L.A. psychedelic rock, at least to me, though my success rate at a lot of things could be perfectly illustrated by a coin flip. This darkly dreamy band centers around front man Michael Thomas as singer-songwriter, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist along with recording engineer / multi-instrumentalist David Savoian, Nathan Atwood on drums / percussion and Tucker Bancroft on guitars. "Driftwood Shoes", in fact, is the band's first release since their 2022 debut album "Idle/Wild" that they have been promoting with live shows peppered across the Golden State.
When I get lost in "Driftwood Shoes", and it is easy to do, I want to light up a cigarette, put on my best disheveled, yet cool clothes on and hang in evocative haunts downtown gazing at a band playing loud music through my tussled, messy hair. Never mind that I don't smoke, I lost the hair on my head a long time ago and my downtown has no cool haunts at all. At least, Night Swims fuels the desire. In the notes that accompany this bands music it states that Thomas as a songwriter / creator / artist is fueled by a lot of things and that his primary "goal in writing is to not be limited by genre, but rather to explore the various influences in his life whether it be fellow musicians, painters, writers, or filmmakers, and to translate that into the sounds that make up his songs" and "Driftwood Shoes" feel very cinematic, very cinematic. I love artists that create dense atmospheres and the sense here is meteorological in terms of emotions, if that makes any sense.
I started this little review mentioning UK post punk and L.A / American psychedelia, 90's and 70's colliding, and listening to Night Swims I feel hints of The Smiths and The Doors or Psychedelic Furs and Dead Meadow or an amalgam of all of those bands. One thing I love about music, is that it is, in many ways, a sonic fountain of youth. Words and sounds that invite and inspired you to chase those youthful dragons whatever they may be and have the courage to slay them (at any age).
Under the sun
When the bright lights hit
It all wears off, you know
If you take a trip
And you circle back
To the place we went
When we were young
When we were young
When we were young
When we were young
When we were young
When we were young
I like swimming in "Driftwood Shoes" and look forward into dipping into Night Swims' past songs and their sophomore album "Gotta Be A Way Out" releasing in October of 2023.
-Robb Donker Curtius
THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM
https://open.spotify.com/artist/3LCzejBF4Of8pAAbOQtVyi
https://www.instagram.com/nightswimsband/
https://www.facebook.com/nightswims
https://nightswimsofficial.com/
Night Swims is helmed by Michael Thomas, songwriter, vocalist, and multi instrumentalist. His primary goal in writing is to not be limited by genre, but rather to explore the various influences in his life whether it be fellow musicians, painters, writers, or filmmakers, and to translate that into the sounds that make up his songs. He is joined by David Savoian, who is not only a multi-instrumentalist, but also a recording engineer, and is now the sole engineer for all of Night swims music going forward. Together they have put together a band with Nathan Atwood on drums and percussion, and Tucker Bancroft on guitars. They released their debut album “Idle/Wild” in February of 2022, and have since been quite busy with live performance across California. Since their debut release, writing has continued to evolve and they released a follow up song “Driftwood Shoes” in June of 2023, with their next recording “Gotta Be A Way Out” releasing in October of 2023, which will serve as a precursor to their 2nd album, which is currently being recorded, and will be released in the first half of 2024.
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