The Swirling Eddies - "Let's Spin!"

The Swirling Eddies - Let's Spin!
1988, Alarma

1. Let's Spin!
2. Catch That Angel
3. The Unsuccessful Dutch Missionary
4. The Big Guns
5. Rodeo Drive
6. Ed Takes a Vacation (A Suite)
7. Snowball
8. I've Got an Idea
9. Don't Ask Me How I Feel
10. Ed Again
11. What a World, What a World

The prices on Let's Spin have come down a bit in the past few months allowing me to actually get one for Christmas. I honestly had no idea what I was going to hear when I put this on as the Eddies have changed with each successive album. So what did I discover? Well, it actually has more in common with The Midget, The Speck and The Molecule than any other album (or, rather, the other way around). It's a lot more commercial and a lot more straight forward than I expected. It's not nearly as silly as Outdoor Elvis or nearly as dour as Zoom Daddy. I also have to admit that this is the first Eddies disc that I didn't love immediately upon hearing. I'm not sure why. The songs took me some getting used to for some reason. Though I do love "I've Got an Idea" and it's my absolute favorite song on this disc and one of my favorite Eddies songs overall. I also like the ethereal "Snowball" and "The Big Guns." I find myself wanting to listen to the album more even though it hasn't done for me as much as I thought it would. I have a feeling it will take a while for this to grow on me and when it does it will be one of my favorite albums of all time.

Useless Fact: The band made a video for "I've Got an Idea." It's pretty interesting... or disturbing depending on how you look at it.

The Swirling Eddies - "The Midget, the Speck, and the Molecule"

The Swirling Eddies - The Midget, the Speck, and the Molecule
2007, Stunt

1. It All Depends
2. The Midget, the Speck, and the Molecule
3. Madonna Inn
4. Giants in the Land
5. Salton Sea
6. My Cardboard Box
7. Snow in a Can
8. Medley of Our Hit
9. Tremolo
10. A Humble Man Rises
11. This is the Title/The Old Hitchhiker

I waited forever for this disc to finally arrive in the mail. I relentlessly emailed the poor guy who runs the Daniel Amos webstore for weeks. He probably hates me by now. Yeah... it's kind of a headache ordering from them. But you know what? It was totally worth it. The sound isn't as dense or challenging as Zoom Daddy nor is it the romp that Outdoor Elvis was. It seems like a happy medium. I was able to pick out some favorites immediately like "Giants in the Land" with its cool guitar groove and "My Cardboard Box" with lyrics that tickle me every time I listen to it. Speaking of lyrics, I think these are some of the best Terry's written. Maybe I should rephrase that - I was surprised at just how clever and unique they are. They always help the rhythm of the song and make me smile. Stuff like, "We'll do everything righteous that your mamma calls sin" ("Madonna Inn") and "Cut out nice pictures of food and drink/ Wash our little paper dishes/ In the photo of a sink" ("My Cardboard Box) are great because you've never really heard anything like it - even on other Eddies, DA, and Lost Dogs discs. The lyrics on this disc are wholly their own. The music is its own beast too, sounding like a fusion of DA's Mr. Beauchner's Dream and Outdoor Elvis and just a dash of the spy-type sounds of Zoom Daddy. Yeah, it might be a chore to order from the DA webstore, but do it anyway. As I said, it's totally worth it.

Useless Fact: As I understand it "Medley of Our Hit" was written in response to people who got nasty about delays on the album. I guess they were upset that they weren't getting their preorders when they thought they should.

The Swirling Eddies - "Zoom Daddy"

The Swirling Eddies - Zoom Daddy

1994, Alarma

1. I Had a Bad Experience With the C.I.A. and Now I'm Gonna Show You My Feminine Side

2. Mr. Sharky

3. (Disco) Love Grapes

4. Nightmare at Elks Lodge

5. The Golden Girl of the Golden West

6. Sweet Mother of God

7. The Twist

8. God Went Bowling

9. Multipurpose Man

10. Pyro Sets a Wildfire

11. Some Friendly Advice

12. Art Carney's Dream

13. Holy, Holy, Holy

14. Zoom Daddy

I bought this shortly after I posted my Outdoor Elvis review and someone left a comment suggested I get Zoom Daddy. I just have one thing to say to that person: THANK YOU SO MUCH! The Eddies' third disc is something of an enigma. While the previous effort was pretty easy to classify, this one is well... unique. In fact, my first time through I asked myself, "What the heck am I listening to?!" Be forewarned, Zoom Daddy takes a few listens to sink in. Probably the first thing I noticed is that despite the humorous song titles this album is serious as a heart attack. While some of the imagery is amusing the points that are being made are somber and grave - pondering the deeper mysteries of God and the human condition. "The Twist" is a heartrending depiction of Christ on the cross and "Art Carney's Dream" is a farce with one of the most beautiful refrains I've ever heard ("Then I caught sight of You/And Your beauty broke my heart"). The music itself defies classification. You really just have to hear it for yourself because I really have no way to describe it. "Nightmare at Elks Lodge" is an strange little ditty that oddly enough, sounds just like the title describes - slow lounge verses with an off time chorus. The atmosphere of the song makes me think of the game Bioshock. The guitar parts are filtered through some strange effects and Tim Chandler's bass seems a lot more upfront. Of course, since I think Tim Chandler is one of the most underrated bassists out there, this is only a good thing. I still amazed at how wonderful, poignant, and thrilling this album is. Highly, highly recommended!

Useless Fact: The band drops the silly nicknames they'd used on the previous album. OR this is a bunch of impostors if the liner notes to Sacred Cows are to be believed.

The Swirling Eddies - "Outdoor Elvis"

The Swirling Eddies - Outdoor Elvis

1989, Alarma

1. Outdoor Elvis

2. Driving in England

3. Urban Legends

4. Tiny Town

5. Attack of the Pulpit Masters

6. Mystery Babylon

7. Arthur Fhardy's Yodeling Party

8. Hell Oh

9. Blowing Smoke

10. Hide the Beer, the Pastor's Here

11. Hold Back the Wind, Donna

12. Knee Jerk

13. Don't Hate Yourself

14. All the Way to Heaven

15. Rubber Sky

16. Coco the Talking Guitar

17. Yer Little Gawd

18. Billy Graham

19. Potential

20. Strange Days

21. Elimination (The Band That Won't Go Away)

It's amazing that the Eddies have been out all this time and I had no idea they actually wrote songs. Let me explain. The first and only Eddies album I've heard was Sacred Cows which was funny, but nothing that I really want to listen to regularly. Well, I saw this on Mike's Blog over at In Defense of His Hands (link at bottom) and I thought I'd check them out. Holy Crap! I didn't know the Eddies wrote songs, let alone such awesome ones! Really the Eddies are just Daniel Amos with a few guests (like Gene Eugene from Adam Again) so it shouldn't surprise me so much. Imagine Daniel Amos with a bit more craziness and you have a good idea of what the Eddies sound like. Some of these tracks like "Outdoor Elvis," "Mystery Babylon," and "Rubber Sky" became instant favorites. Ol' Camarillo has a way of fusing deep spiritual meaning with silliness. Again, special thanks to Mike over at In Defense of His Hands for providing me with another band to add to my growing CD want list!

Useless Fact: "Hide the Beer, the Pastor's Here" is a protest song of sorts against some bible college's rules against drinking and R rated movies. Several colleges are mentioned in the lyrics including Taylor University and Fort Wayne Bible College. I graduated from Fort Wayne Bible College (though it was called Taylor University when I went there).

The Swirling Eddies - "Sacred Cows"

The Swirling Eddies - Sacred Cows

1996, Starsong

1. God Good, Devil Bad

2. Baby Baby

3. Satan, Bite the Dust

4. Not For Me

5. I Luv Rap Music

6. Convertibles

7. I Use the J-Word

8. Alcatraz

9. Big House

10. Sing Along Song

Okay so this is a novelty disc with the Eddies covering some of Christian music's "best" hits! Most of it is good for one or two listens. There's only a few tracks that bear repeated spins. One of those is the hilarious "God Good, Devil Bad." The lisping in "Satan, Bite the Dust" makes that song MORE listenable, if you can believe that! You can hear what Audio Adrenaline's "Big House" sounds like with Deputy Dog singing it. But the the best, funniest, most brilliant song on here as got to be the lounge cover of DC Talk's "I Luv Rap Music." Easily the best track on here. I actually prefer that one to the original.

Useless Fact: There are two covers for this one. The one pictured is blue but I have a read one. Sort of like Pokemon... but... um... not as stupid. Okay... well I don't know about that. Never mind.