Swish is an American indie rock band founded by Lori Martin in the spring of 1996 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 stint for Helium as the fill-in bassist Between Brian Dunton and Ash Bowie.
In the fall 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 "Supermax" was titled after the maximum security prisons constructed in the early '90s that featured solitary confinement for its inmates 23 hrs. a day.
"Supermax" was well received among indie rock critiques. 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 Nils Kline, now of Wilco), playing shows in Boston 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 considered as bassist for the project. However, Martin declined to join due to health reasons.
After several years on hiatus, Martin (now Lori Gregory), has relocated to the Los Angeles area where she is now working again as a songwriter and composer, preparing for a full-length Swish release scheduled for 2009.
Discography
editEP's
edit| Title | Year | Label |
|---|---|---|
| Supermax | 1996 | Instant Mayhem Records |
References
edit| Title | Author | Publication | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
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 Sunday Globe, 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 |