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Average: 4.0 (54 ratings)
- Date Released: March 31, 2008
- Genre: Alternative/Punk
- Style: Indie Rock
- Label: Vagrant Records
Fourth time's a beach.
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We Say...
Call the French Kicks "New York City Rock" and, technically, you'd have a point. The quartet does, indeed, hail from that overgrown concrete jungle. But the music on their fourth album don't take their inspiration from the urban landscape; this time the Kicks have packed their bags and taken leave of the mottled asphalt, gleaming high-rises, and all those Strokes comparisons and headed for the shore.
Lead singer Nick Stumpf gives the best vocal performance of his career here — his breathy voice takes on a mesmerizing kind of tidal rhythm, waxing and waning against the sea-surf shucka-shucka of shakers and cymbals. The guitars bounce tremolo lines around some deep cove shot through with a piano's ivory shafts of light. The two songs at the center of the album — arguably the ukulele's finest moment ever, "Love in the Ruins," and best song the Beach Boys never wrote, "With the Fishes" — are bound to find their way on to countless summer mixes.
For the first time in their career, the Kicks haven taken the reins on mixing and producing and the result is an album of simply recorded first- and second-takes, a sort of leisurely melodicism that sways and drifts without ever coming undone. -
They Say...
On Swimming, the French Kicks trade the shiny electronics of Two Thousand for guitars and live percussion, but even though this is the most organic the band has sounded since One Time Bells, the intricate arrangements and production that were Two Thousand's focal points remain. Swimming is, well, swimming in lavish sounds, with layers and layers of blissful harmonies and melodies, chiming guitars, and drumming that is subtle but still manages to stand out from its surroundings. Unfortunately, as on Two Thousand, these beautiful, inviting sonics overwhelm the songs they're attached to. Too often, it's easier to notice the decorations -- like "Carried Away"'s strummy guitars and flute-like keyboards, or the big drum buildup that opens "The Way You Arrive" -- than what they're decorating. Much of Swimming blurs into an attractive wash that sounds appealing in the moment, but leaves very little lasting impression; tracks like "Atlanta," "New Man" and "Said So What" end up being just too subtle for their own good. However, there are a few more memorable songs here than there were on Two Thousand. "Abandon" and "Love in the Ruins" bring back a little of the band's early, post-punk worshipping sharpness, giving some edge and shape to Swimming's softness; "With the Fishes"' shimmying beat and shimmering guitars feel like a dream pop twist on '50s rock, and "All Our Weekends," a bittersweet look at a samey relationship, actually uses the album's repetitive sounds to its advantage. However, by the time "This Could Go Wrong" ends Swimming even more gently than it started, it feels like you've remembered these pretty songs instead of actually hearing them. It's almost impossible to dislike Swimming's pastel beauty, but it's nearly as difficult to work up much enthusiasm about it.
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You Say...
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| 01. |  |
Abandon |
3:56 |  |
| 02. | |
Over The World |
4:26 | |
| 03. | |
Carried Away |
3:28 | |
| 04. | |
New Man |
4:37 | |
| 05. | |
Said So What |
4:14 | |
| 06. | |
Atlanta |
4:47 | |
| 07. | |
Love In The Ruins |
3:38 | |
| 08. | |
With The Fishes |
3:37 | |
| 09. | |
The Way You Arrive |
4:16 | |
| 10. | |
All Our Weekends |
4:03 | |
| 11. | |
Sex Tourists |
3:27 | |
| 12. | |
This Could Go Wrong |
3:43 | |
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Credits
- Fred Kevorkian - Mastering // Kevin McMahon - Mixing Consultant // Alex Pasco - Engineer
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