Swish (band)
Swish is an American indie rock band founded by Lori Martin (now Lori Martin Gregory) in the fall of 1995 in Boston, Massachusetts, and includes guitarist Joe Boyle and Dinosaur, Jr. drummer Patrick "Murph" Murphy. Martin founded the project after playing in the Boston music scene for years, including a brief European tour as a fill-in bassist for Helium, between Brian Dunton and Ash Bowie of Polvo.
In the summer of 1996, Don Fleming produced a 7-song Swish EP, "Supermax," which was released on his Instant Mayhem label and distributed by Caroline/Virgin Records in seven countries. The EP features a track, "Game," which was recorded and engineered by Wally Gagel and includes a cello track by Duke Roth, formerly of Bullet Lavolta.
"Supermax" was well received among indie rock critics. M. Tye Comer of the CMJ New Music Report described the disc as "emotionally dense tracks (that) trudge along like angels walking barefoot on cobblestone," (Review, "CMJ New Music Report," M. Tye Comer, June 3, 1996) and John Elsasser of Magnet Magazine declared that "Martin has the kind of voice you could listen to for hours," (Review, "Magnet Magazine," John Elsasser, Aug./Sept. 1996). Following the disc's release Swish toured briefly with Mike Watt (at the time featuring guitarist Nels Cline, now of Wilco), playing shows in Boston, Western Massachusetts and New York.
In 1997, Murph also signed on to drum for Evan Dando and The Lemonheads, for which he brought Martin along who was offered by Dando to play bass for the project. However, Martin declined to join.
After several years on hiatus, Martin is now working again as a songwriter and composer. She is preparing for a new Swish release, The Sleeping Dirt, which includes original members Murph and Joe, as well as long-time friend and engineer/producer James Buckley.
References
1. "Live Life to the Supermax," Kitty Empire, New Musical Express, June 22, 1996 2. ^ "A Slow Path to Quick Success," David Wildman, The Boston SundayGlobe, May 1996 3. ^ Review, CMJ New Music Report,M. Tye Comer, June 3, 1996 4. ^ Review, Magnet Magazine,John Elsasser, Aug./Sept. 1996 5. ^ Review, KFJC New Music Review, Thurston Hunger, June 5, 1996, Thurston Hunger review
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