Sweaty Sweaters

Bellingham, WA

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About

CARE. (Engineered by Chris Vita)

Elvis Costello once said, "Writing about music is like dancing about architecture." With their new album, Care, Bellingham's Sweaty Sweaters create a sound that only moves to make the effort seem more illogical and, at best, pointless. I can paint them any way I'd like and, for the benefit of the reader, I could vainly attempt to box in their sound by tossing around adjectives like "progressive," "frantic" or "experimental," I could stretch the generalizations a bit further and say their "noodly, frantic" guitars and "stoned, promiscuous" bass grooves evoke elements of math rock, early Modest Mouse, and, if I'm feeling eclectic, Broken Social Scene minus some 15 extra hands. I could note how the time changes make them sound "smart," or how lead singer/guitarist Shea Isely's scattered and inconsistent screaming gives their otherwise "melodic" grooves a "razor-sharp edge that promises to cut you if you get too close." Because believe me, babe, it will.

Or I could take the alternate route and not attempt to describe their album at all, in effect branding the Sweaty Sweaters "indefinable, eclectic and ultimately advanced: too weird to describe, too rare to miss." All of which is true (particularly on the eighth track), but where does that leave you, dear reader? If I prescribe to the former doctrine, such familiarity will tell you that you've heard it all before. you know progressive. You know math rock. Everything you spin is razor-sharp; every song on your iPod is "smart," "raw" and as untamed as the horse Paul Revere rode in on. If I take the latter route, I leave the work to you, the reader, to find out for yourself.

This is risky business for a number of reasons, but most notably because (a) I defer my job, authority and wisdom to an audience that (b) wants results and authoritative opinions. And it's my duty, as an advanced music journalist, to give you those opinions in a language we all can understand. For that matter, I will say this" buy the album, make listening to it its own activity and do so loudly while on something other than caffeine. If you're familiar with this band, I don't have to tell you this. If not, you can thank me later.

-Lane Koivu, Cascadia Weekly, 8/13/08

"The Sweaty Sweaters make mathy experimental rock human - what else can I say? (Other than I'd like to see them live or get in their heads and find the source of this gorgeous, gripping madness.) They could easily start a youth movement, but they also could just make you smile. And sweat."

-Katherine Hoffert, Managing Editor, West Coast Performer Magazine

"...Arriving while the unknown first band was wrapping up their set, the place was just starting to fill up as people filtered in from the patio to witness the hard progressive math-rock of the Sweaty Sweaters.
These guys are one of the most consistent, tightest bands I have seen play around Bellingham lately. They play frequently and it shows in their smooth but intense execution. Although their songs usually orbit around one central, mind-bending odd metered riff, they take each track though a series of transformations, navigating time signature changes with the ease of a trapeze artist. While drummer Rodger sharply punctuates the Sweaters' paragraphs on his glowing alien-neon orange DDrums, guitarist Shea jogs his spidery fingers up and down the fretboard onf his Fender occasionally striking impossible hand-yoga poses. Underlying all of this is the rumbling foundation of bassist Shawn emphasizing both bass beats and riff accents. Alternating the intese climactic rock with wandering slow-burners topped with fuzzed vocals, the Sweaters quickly drew people in from the street, sweeping them into the cohesive whirlpool of rock..."

-Peter Hutchinson, Whats Up (July 08)

Sweaty Sweaters take cues from bands such as Don Caballero and
the Advantage as they bang through 10 songs of interesting and lively
instrumental prog-rock on their debut album Flee, Bottle Flea.
Although not extremely technical, the band has enough chops to keep
listeners well engaged if they choose to be. Otherwise, this is a nice
record to zone out to and just kick back. Standout tracks include Kill
Me Tomorrow and Brown Banana Peel.

The records only weak points are the two tracks with vocals, Jot,
Jot, Jot and Stains. They throw off the flow of the album a bit, but
not enough to spoil things. There are a few issues with instrument
levels on the recording, but overall its a nice and raw, garage-sounding
recording. This record is a pleasant and unique surprise that
should not be passed over.

-Eric Sanford (Whatcom Independent)

Sweaty Sweaters are a two-person Bellingham band comprised of drums and guitar and not much else, not even vocals(with the exception of the barely audible computerized vocals on opening track "Jot, Jot, Jot" and "Stains"). On Flee, Bottle Flea, they play some melodic power riffs for a little over a half hour and call it a day, but not before getting into your head.

Sweaty Sweaters keep it interesting by building each song around some central riffage, and they really like effects pedals. "Brown Banana Peel" has a riff that would sound cool in an 8-bit Mega Man game. In fact, most of these tracks would sound cool in an old-school video game, not only because of the quality of the sound but because the music is catchy enough to get in your head, yet not enough to make you feel like you just have to pull out their CD. Where they get less melodic, as on "Mother Goats Eyes" or the aforementioned "Stains," they music suffers, but for the most part they keep the momentum going throughout. An extra bonus: trying to connect the images the awesome song titles convey with the sound of the music.

-Joseph Dethloff (What's Up Magazine)