Search - Swingin Utters :: Dead Flowers, Bottles, Bluegrass, and Bones

Wow, staggeringly good, maybe the best yet

punkviper | Pittsburgh, PA USA | 03/12/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I am increasingly convinced this band can do no wrong. In my opinion, they've never had a bad album. And the funny thing is that I wasn't sure where they'd go from the last (self-titled) effort, which was probably as dark/hard as anything they had done since Streets Of SF. Well, if the S/T album was an extension of the darker, inward-looking stuff from Five Lessons Learned, then this one is an improvement upon the lighter, more melodic fare that made Juvenile Product such a success. Why is it better than Juvenile? Simply put: diversity. They display more styles and more tempo changes on this than the fairly static approach of Juvenile (which is no fault, it's a great album.) They change gears than most any "street-punk" band, which is why they transcend petty terms like street-punk and why they succeed as a great band and not merely a great genre band. Surprisingly the Filthy Thieving Bastards type material is kept to a minimum (perhaps they got it out of their system with that full-length) but that celtic flavor is still apparent, so don't worry. And you just can't beat 17 songs for bang-for-yer-buck.I'm almost frightened to make any more statements like "this might be their London Calling" which i did for their last effort, because they just might go and one-up themselves like they did this time. And what's better than London Calling? Not much, if anything. I think this is better than the self-titled, and i'm leaning towards labelling it their best. It's great when a band can age without showing any signs of it. They've set the bar mighty high, but they've also shown no signs of slowing down. Here's to 12 more years."

It's better than i excpected.

Paul Taylor | UK | 07/26/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The swingin' utters continue to write the good material and they convince me more everytime that they can do no wrong though a couple of the tracks near to the start of record slip in standard to the rest, the album however redeems itself as it approaches more toward the end. The stand out tracks on deadflowers, bottles, bluegrass and bones are glad, if you want me to and lampshade infact the only way i can really give a justified review for this album is by giving each track a rating out of 5.1. No pariah 5/5
2. Glad 5/5
3. Hopless vows 1/5
4. Deadflowers, bottles, bluegrass, and bones 2/5
5. All that i can give 5/5
6. Sign in a window 4/5
7. Dont ask why 4/5
8. Lampshade 5/5
9. Letters to yourself 3/5
10. Heaven at seventeen 5/5
11. Leaves of fate 5/5
12. If you want me to 5/5
13. Elation 4/5
14. Poor me 5/5
15. My closed mind 4.5/5
16. Looking for something to follow 5/5
17. Shadows and lies 5/5So there you have it most tracks are rated 5/5 because not much else could have been added to make those tracks any better i would recommened the self titled one 5 lessons learned and the streets of san fransisco before you purchase this though, the utters have a great discography and you you cant name one bad album that they have made in this way they are similar to another great band called the Tossers (similar genre) and they outshine the Dropkick Murphys and the Dropkicks arent a bad band in the slightest so get this if you already own the aforementioned albums or if you're a lucid person looking for one of the more pre-eminent punk albums in the genre. It would be good for the utters to release some live material and more acoustics on there next album but you cant have it all right?, the only real downfall on this album however are the tracks Hopeless vows and dead flowers, bottles, bluegrass and bones both of which dont seem like the swingin' Utters are playing them as the songs sound a bit rushed as though they where just fill ins to a great album which im sure they where not but thats the general impression that you get, the description of this album on FAT was that the Swingin' utters come out with some new sounding better in someways street punk and i could'nt agree more, it's a breath of fresh air this album really as though there are still the odd good few punk bands about it's hard to escape this current hype thing at the moment and though i have nothing against them lets face it they are very poor bands so well done to the Utters again and im rambling on and on now."

It's musical diversity, and it's all good

Bill Cocks | cambridge, MA United States | 04/13/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I've been listening to the Utters for a while now, and if I've learned anything from them, it's that they can successfully mix folk and punk on the same cd. Needless to say, I was pumped to hear that they were coming out with a new album: I wanted to see what kind of new stuff they could come up with. Well, I'm pleased to say that they did a damn good job with this album. It's got everything - fast punk music ('glad'), slower acoustic stuff ('if you want me to') and even some piano (lampshade). Yet with all this musical diversity, they still manage to maintain deep, high quality lyrics throughout this album.
If you're a fan of the the Utters already, then you'll be pleased with this CD. If you've never heard them before, but are a fan of the genre, then I encourage you to check this CD out. It's got so many different styles that you'll most likely find a song you'll really enjoy."