Swearing at Motorists - Number Seven Uptown
(Secretly Canadian)
Dayton, Ohio is the home of Swearing at Motorists, a two-piece indie pop band that recalls the lazy
style of indie-pop yesteryear along with the melodic hooks of Guided by Voices. Indeed, it's hard
to NOT compare Swearing at Motorists to Guided by Voices--both are from Dayton, both knock
out lots of fairly lo-fi short pop songs, and Motorist drummer Don Thrasher even served time in
Guided by Voices (back in the 50s or something).
Still, Swearing at Motorists only resemble Guided by Voices up to a certain point. Their melodies (and
production) are much cleaner, and their lyrics are far less abstract than Pollard's. Singer Dave
Doughman seems to be the meat of the band, playing all of the (overdubbed) guitars and singing, while
Thrasher merely pounds out beats on (not even) every song.
Some guest musicians liven up the record, as on "Talking Pictures" and "Calgon Take Me Away,"
though the record maintains a very low-key feeling throughout. The end of "Dog With the
Lampshade Head" is actually the most intense musical moment Swearing at Motorists achieve,
with buzzing electric guitars sounding rather fierce.
This isn't a record that will alter your mood; no matter how hard you try to enjoy them, Swearing at
Motorists never really provide enough power to step out of averageness. Still, I like this band
because they manage to play breezy pop music without being sugary sounding like many other
indie pop bands. This band has some potential to be quite interesting if they stick to their primitive
model.
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