Swings - Sugarwater (2015)

Swings is a trio of old friends who sound like an indie rock band coated in teeth-rotting pop hooks timed to asymmetrical, loose jazz rhythm. Hailing from Washington, DC, the band knowingly avoids the stifling nostalgia that permeates less memorable acts. Despite recently entering their twenties, Swings display a feverish prolificacy, endlessly shedding stayed sonic shells before they become safe and stale. Not even a year after their debut, the band is poised to release their sophomore effort, Sugarwater. This album finds the band exploring syrupy auto-tuned vocal arrangements, earworm chord progressions and a dance-like hypnotism. Swings still showcase a knack for deforming their own songs, but Sugarwater’s metamorphosis is more of an organic flow from entropy to rebirth. It's a snapshot of band that refuses to be burdened by theirs or anyone else’s pasts, confident enough to endlessly reconfigure, and always fresh and rewarding as a result.