In singer/guitarist Elizabeth Elkins, The Swear draws influences from Joan Jett, The Pretenders, Kiss, Garbage, Social Distortion, Smashing Pumpkins, Hole, Patti Smith and even Berlin and Morrissey. Such odd bedfellows initially make for uneasy listening to the Atlanta quartet's debut CD, Hotel Rooms and Heart Attacks. In fact, early cuts like "Vampire," "Shuttered Off Christine" and "History of Cinema" thrive on melodic chaos. By the album's midpoint, though, The Swear reach an atmospheric and muscular arc with "The Violence Rings," "Always Wasted" and "Birmingham."
Elkins, who reportedly hangs out in graveyards, is a winner of the John Lennon Songwriting Contest, and her lyrics to "The City That Never" — among the album's strongest tracks — show why: "He said come on there's a show to play/There is nowhere else to be/So breathe in that diesel fuel/Until the litany leaves you years and years of debris."
Not necessarily for proggers or hard rockers, The Swear make gritty alt-rock with post-punk and post-grunge attitude.
Track Listing:
1) Vampire
2) Shuttered Off Christine
3) Some Graves Are Stolen
4) History of Cinema
5) A Moment in the Glass
6) Deadfall
7) The Violence Rings
8) Always Wasted
9) Birmingham
10) One Must Be So Careful
11) Last Breath
12) The City That Never
13) Morning in June
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