Review of Swift - A Communication Manual

It seems the never-ending flow of nu-hardcore (I call it nu-core) continues with The Swift's "A Communication Manual". I've never been a fan of bands such as Glassjaw, the Deftones, Radiohead, etc. and The Swift is not about to sway me from that opinion. The entire sound is just way too mainstream-friendly, and therefore weak and toned-down. This EP actually started out pretty good with the song "Placebo". While horribly cliché in it's nu-core title, the combination of a somewhat aggressive breakdown and non-clean vocals was pretty good and I thought that maybe these guys weren't your average nu-core band. Sadly the breakdown ended and led into the classic combination of heavy bass, "talk vocals", and a little bit of guitars. To my disgust, the singer began to belt out some whiny, generic, MTV-nu-rock clean vocals, and I began to abhor the band. Every song after "Placebo" was even worse because the heavy moments are very, very few and far between. The final track, "The Weight of Instruction", is up to par with the heaviness of "Placebo", but it fails to be good because it's one of those 'I can't take it anymore so I'm gonna cry" songs. It's not BAD songwriting per se, it just lacks the intangibles. This EP is way too reminiscent of a Collective Soul or The Strokes album. The MTV clean pussy moments are much greater in number than the cooler, heavy moments (which, by comparison to other hardcore bands, are relatively subdued). If you wanna feel like you're watching MTV without actually doing it, then by all means listen to Swift. For me, the name of the band describes at what speed I dismissed them as a generic nu-core band: Swiftly. Wrathchild's Choice Cuts Placebo - Starts the album off somewhat well, unfortunately doesn't save it

Release Details

Swift

A Communication Manual

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