Brendan wrote a bio for Long Gone Lads that we never used but should have so:
You know how, style wise, Europe is ahead of us a little? I know, I hate the French as much as you, but there's no denying that they embraced jazz and early rock while we were still over here trying to exorcise those selfsame demons out of the only good clubs in the lower forty eight…well, let me tell you, the Swayback, has managed to pique the interest of the euros based on nothing more than their uniquely dark riffs, their creepy haircuts, their slavish devotion to Sabbath, and the recent release of their debut Long Gone Lads on LGL records. Get on the boat or don't. I personally don't care, but you'll be the laughing stock of all the other interns if you pass this record over to gush over the new Be Your Own Pet album. Come on, get in there, find a cool band for a change. We all know you want to. And what better place to start than three dudes who look like underwear models and rock like the Stones if they had some really good Ketamine.
It's actually kind of strange, but when you hear the loop from 'When the Levee Breaks' bring in the focus track "Just Like the Old Days" the Swayback actually make the beat their own and leave the obvious Zeppelin comparisons behind. No small feat. Just ask the guy who owned the car Bonham liked to drink in. ZING! Okay, seriously folks, these are some riffy, spooky, precise songs, and if the lyrics are any indication, these three dudes have forgone any illusions of rock star grandeur and are content to play the middle slot, steal all the headliners beers and fall down the stairs, because um…that's rock and roll, assholes. Don't let these dildos who have been peddling it as some sort of exercise program fool you. That's the reason that Angels and Airwaves don't have any good songs. They don't know what the Swayback has known all along: You need to drink all Karen O's beers while she's out on stage re-defining rock every once in a while. It's not a personal thing, it's a duty, and these dudes are slaves to keeping rock and roll gross and awesome.
I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that this shit is a little artsy, so when you see the Swayback touring through your town, come down and expect really great t-shirts, a little bit of pomp and circumstance and a whole lot of beards and theoretical talks about perspective and shit…but hey, we've kind of collectively forgotten that music is art. It's so marketable that it's kind of on the same level as dogfood these days. Well the Swayback keeps it classy. You want a song with a solo on an instrument that your kid fucks around with between his busy pants shitting schedule? These dudes are doing it. Taking themselves just too seriously enough that you can laugh, but maintaining enough rock bravado that you still kind of want to suck them off. It's a real balancing act.
Okay, so Long Gone Lads is a great record and it's gonna get worked with massive touring and a slavish devotion to answering dumb questions about influences for any local paper that wants to take the plunge. "Do you guys intentionally sound like the Dwarves meets Nomeansno meets the Stones?" You'll ask, and the response will be something like this: "Is that your sister?" Hey, the Long Gone Lads record is doing all their talking these days. And anyway, you should never approach the guitar player. He'd fuck your mom. So there's that.
