Toronto – The Swallows is the brainchild of Glenn Milchem, drummer for Blue Rodeo who has also played with Holy Fuck and Change of Heart. Despite the fact that he band’s been going since 1999, I had never really given them much of a listen, but I recall hearing some Swallows stuff awhile back. When they launched into their first song of the night, “Shoot Out Sparks”, I though to myself, “This is not quite what I recall them sounding like.” It was a good track though, a nice uptempo rocker that set the tone for the night. Milchem also uses the word “multiverse” in the lyrics so bonus points for that.
I have to admit that for the first part of their set, I wasn’t hugely into what they were doing. The band are all talented players with years of experience in several bands amongst them and Milchem’s got a good voice, a bit reminiscent of Danny Michel at times or maybe even Shudder To Think’s Craig Wedren for a few brief moments. Yet despite this, none of their songs really had much of an impact on me until I heard “Darkly Bright,” which they then followed with a slow, simmering tune (that I don’t recall the name of). Later in the set, Milchem even played a bit of theremin on one song. All in all, not a bad night of music and proof that within every drummer, there lurks a frontman waiting to emerge.
The Swallows – Shoot Out Sparks: Play Now
