#swiftumz

[dustedmagazine]

SWIFTUMZ — Simply the Best (Empty Cellar)

SWIFTUMZ is a one man project, but it sounds very definitely like a band. Take “Unconditional” which chimes with bright guitars, churns with driving, agitated bass. The vocals lurk back in the mix, lightly harmonized, careening breezily. The sound is fuzzy with a large helping of hook, sweet but not cloying, and very much like Bats early on, when they could still work up a sweat and frenzy.

The man behind SWIFTUMZ is Christopher McVickers, enough of a fixture in the Bay Area’s thriving lo-fi scene to get Kelley Stoltz, and members of the Aislers Set, the Bananas and Dirty Ghosts to come in for a song or two. This is the third SWIFTUMZ album, and it has a certain lived in grace. You can tell that McVickers has found his sweet spot, triangulating between NZ fuzz, melodic garage and 1970s guitar rock; there are some short but stinging guitar solos in several of these blurred and wistful songs.

McVickers has largely seen brevity as a virtue. Most of the songs run one or two minutes, tantalizing with a taste but not sticking around long enough to pall. We are largely in favor of short, memorable songs — you can ask us why after you’ve listened to the Decemberists’ “Joan in the Garden” three times in a row, and no, you may not skip the boring parts — but it must be said that the best cut is the longest one. There’s a lot to love about the nearly six-minute “Almost Through,” from the somersaulting guitar lick that opens it, to the yearning drone of organ that underpins it, to the dreaming, drifting, surf infused propulsion of the thing. It carries you along like a vintage T-Bird on an ocean-facing highway at night, not in a hurry but moving, the end no more important than the right-now middle, which could go on indefinitely, and it’d be fine. 

In fact, maybe we’ll just play that one again.

Jennifer Kelly

[yellowsnow77]

Swiftumz - Simply The Best

En toda escena musical siempre hay varios artistas que están en la sombra y que merecen el mismo reconocimiento que los que dan la cara. Es el caso de Chris McVicker, un musico que forma parte de la escena de San Francisco desde los primeros años de este siglo. Ya sea colaborando con varias bandas de punk de la zona, o escribiendo canciones para otros, como esa “Don’t Cha Want Me Back” de mis…

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[bandcampsnoop]

6/12/24.

Swiftumz received a shout-out here back in 2017. They had released a cool 7" on Fruit & Flowers with a song about the Golden State Warriors.

Swiftumz (San Francisco, California) has been the vehicle for the music of Christopher McVickers for well over a decade. Now, SF label Empty Cellar Records is releasing the new LP which features McVickers joined by a cast of friends: Kelly Stoltz, and members of The Aislers Set and The Bananas.

This reminds me a bit of Sonny & The Sunsets and Dick Stusso.

[raysoakland]

next show, a record release for our friends THE LOVEBIRDS

[lifestinks-sf]

Swiftumz, Rays, Neutrals........Do your ears a favor and come to this show........$5

[9thfloorradio]

New episode of The Electric Velvet Sound featuring production work by Brian Hamilton. Songs by The Younger Lovers, High Anxiety, Apogee Sound Club, Meat Market, Swiftumz & more. Enjoy:  http://www.9thfloorradio.com/theelectricve…/…/brian-hamilton

[pressuredroptv2]

Be here today at 3pm PDT for Swiftumz live!

[geeznann]

Insane in the membrane insane in the mind. #swiftumz live stream comin' at ya! #alternative #punkrock #music #livestream