Juggernaut Rides has been delayed once and now possibly twice. Release date is now either March 7 or 14.
Link info and track listing
Agree,
Mezcal Head is amazing and their best album.
Came across this, from a web site born in 2005, with some interesting facts on what happened to them. Thanks Swervedriver.net, and quite long but informative and I found it fascinating so passing it along:
Having already toured the UK extensively in 1991, Swervedriver embarked on a tour of North America in two legs - one supporting Soundgarden and one supporting Ride, reflecting their unusual crossover audience.
At the end of the U.S leg of the tour, en route to Vancouver for the band's first Canadian gig (Feb 6, 1992), Graham Bonner announced that he was going out to get a sandwich and didn't come back. Graham had apparently had some kind of breakdown and done a runner. He managed to enter Canada before the border police caught him and dumped back at the feet of his bandmates. He refused to speak to anyone but Jimmy. At the end of the conversation, Swervedriver had a vacancy for a drummer. Graham remained in the States and now plays in a band in San Francisco.
They finished the tour with a ring-in (Danny Ingram from Washington band Strange Boutique) and arrived back in the U.K. amidst rumours of an impending split.
In 1992, Swervedriver briefly debunked the rumours with the stunning "Never Lose that Feeling" E.P.(apparently recorded before Graham left - i.e. before the start of the American tour). The E.P. was well received in both the U.S. and the U.K., but nothing was done to capitalise on the record's momentum because as soon as it came out, Adi Vynes announced his departure from the group. Adi was leaving to form the power trio Skyscraper along with Milk guitarist Vic Kemlicz.
Following Adi's departure, people started to read a lot more into the title "Never Lose that Feeling". The press reasoned that with no rhythm section, and without Adi, who they thought of as a crucial member, Swervedriver could not possibly continue - and if they did, they would be a shadow of their former selves. Although it was never officially announced, everyone assumed Swervedriver were no more.
For the rest of 92, and most of 1993 (it seemed like an eternity at the time!), the complete lack of public Swervedriver activity appeared to confirm what most people had assumed. But in August of 1993, the doomsayers were proved wrong in the most emphatic way possible.
Swervedriver hadn't split up after all - they'd spent the last year quietly rebuilding after recruiting their new drummer, "Jez". Jez was put in touch with Adam & Jim via Marc Waterman at EMI Publishing, where I had been working with another EMI band of the time - 5:30 they were called (Marc had produced their debut album). Jez had slobbered up to Adam in a pub and offered his services, which included his 16-track home studio. With Adam and Jimmy sharing bass guitar duties, and with hot producer Alan Moulder at the controls, they had recorded a new album, "Mezcal Head".
"Mezcal Head"s lead single was "Duel", named after Spielberg's legendary early 70's car flick and featuring the opening couplet "You've been away for so long / you can't ask why". The NME were so keen to give "Duel" their coveted "Single of the Week" award that they did so a week before it was released, retitling the honour "Single of Next Week".
When the album came out, it was once again widely acclaimed. The band's sound was essentially the same, but with more colour and broader scope and influences. In interviews from this period, Adam begins to namecheck Elvis Costello, and his influence can be heard in the stream-of-consciousness narrative lyrics of songs like "Harry and Maggie", "Last Train to Satansville" and "Hands". Musically, there was some acknowledgement of their British labelmates, including "Duress", co-written with Marc Waterman (producer of Ride's first album). The U.S. and Australasian releases of Mezcal Head were delayed, supposedly because Sony (new owners of Creation) wanted to release it themselves, but then changed their mind.
In 1994, the band toured extensively on the back of "Mezcal Head", visiting the UK, North America, Europe, Australia and Japan. The second single from the album was "Last Train to Satansville" in early 94. That year they also released the single "My Zephyr (A Sequel)" on the boutique label Flower Shop. This single was the first with their new bassist Stephen George. Also in 1994, Swervedriver contributed covers to two tribute albums: "Jesus" on "Heaven and Hell vol. 3" (Velvet Underground), and "In The City" on "Who Covers Who".
August 1995 saw the release of Swervedriver's third and most controversial album "Ejector Seat Reservation" (preceded by the single "Last Day on Earth"). The album managed to be more accessible to newcomers while at the same time presenting a challenge to existing fans with its cleaner, more conventional sound. The new rhythm section got their first proper outing, pumping driving grooves all over the album in sharp contrast to Adi's more melodic style. The basic Swervedriver elements remained intact, however. Opening track is "Bring me the Head of the Fortune Teller", its title an obvious reference to Sam Peckinpah's legendary redneck epic "Bring me the Head of Alfredo Garcia".
Immediately after the release of "Ejector Seat Reservation", it was revealed that Swervedriver were no longer with Creation. Explanations for this varied depending on who you asked. The press thought they'd been dumped for releasing an unadventurous album. The band claimed the usual "we weren't getting the support we needed", which tends to be a dumped band's version of "musical differences". One rumour suggests that "Ejector Seat" was a contractual obligation album, Swervedriver having jumped ship before recording even started. Whatever the reason, the immediate effect of having no label was no touring and next to no promotion in support of the album.
For a brief period, Swervedriver were officially label-less, and the "they got dumped" rumours quickly turned into hysterical "they've split up" rumours. These were silenced in early 96 when it was revealed they'd signed a three album deal with DGC, for release on the Geffen Worldwide label. Originally, the first of these albums was to have been the US release of "Ejector Seat Reservation". Unfortunately for US based Swerve fans, Creation weren't about to let go of the masters, so the album is only available on import in the States (domestic versions were released in the UK, Japan and Australasia).
Swervedriver spent the rest of 1996 recording their 4th album for Geffen. In late 96, they released a boutique single "Why Say Yeah" as a split double seven inch with American act Sophia.
Early 1997 saw another boutique seven inch - "93 Million Miles from the Sun... and Counting" on Sessions, and a second Who cover. "Magic Bus" was from the soundtrack of the snowboarding movie "Day Tripper", and was released as a single on A&M (their US label while they were on Creation). The 4th album was in the can, was called "99th Dream", and was scheduled for release on May 7th, 1997.
The latest Swervedriver rumours say that their relationship with Geffen has cooled considerably following the sacking of their original A&R man. Although they're not officially dumped (yet), its looking increasingly unlikely that Geffen will release "99th Dream". It doesn't look like they'll stand in the way of its release on another label, if Swervedriver find one.
Whatever happens with Geffen, don't hold your breath for "99th Dream"s release in ANY territory. That makes three albums in a row where they've had hassles with record labels - a different label being the offender each time. Looks like they're one of the unluckiest bands around, as well as one of the most underrated.
UPDATE: Swervedriver were dropped from Geffen just 2 weeks before 99th Dream was scheduled for release. After losing 2 band members and being dropped from 2 record labels, they still decide to stick together and get the 99th Drem album out. So they signed to the US Independent label Zerohour and released 99th Drem in February of 1998.
They are currently touring in support for their album and are also recording material for the followup for 99th Dream.
Originally Appeared at Ajay's old Swervedriver site
As we all know the last paragraph never happen and they broke up after
99th Dream.
