Album Reviews
Ever since the Swingin’ Utters formed in San Francisco in the late 80s, they’ve been cranking out excellent streetpunk tunes. Well, except for the seven-year hiatus they took before reforming in 2010. “Poorly Formed” is the band’s second album since the hiatus and they still sound re-energized as fuck.
Opener “Librarians Are Hiding Something” is fast, catchy, energetic and a perfect way to kick off an album. Next up are “Brains” “Stuck In a Circle” and “Pour Beans”, which is slightly more mellow but still rocking. Having never been happy to settle for just one sound, the Utters whip out a banjo in “I’m A Little Bit Country”. Guess what? It works as well!
From there on these guys keep mixing it up. “In A Video” and “Dreadlock Dread Reggae” are fierce songs, “Military Barbara Billingsley” is The Clash incarnate and closer “Sevita Sing” is the perfect pop song. It makes “Poorly Formed” a well-balanced album that is especially consistent when it comes to the quality of the songs on it.