Room To Think

BY Deborah Orr Swell's all-new-stuff EP, meant to entice those who've already worn through their Psycho-Specific copy of ...Well?, finds the band in a relaxed and recumbent mood, strumming idly on acoustics and drawling through beds of echo with an offhandedly psychedelic air. "At Long Last" is a long-unfolding, fog-enshrouded affair that suggests the influence of either Steve or Dave Roback, while "Here It Is" draws a more sinister bead, strumming away with a very `60s-cum-early-'80s mock innocence that characterized S.F. music of the far-gone psychedelic revival days. The guitars snap out of their moody reserve on "Life's Great," lathering up to a velvety crunch that satisfies our need for aggression within the surreal. Swell spaces out even further than previously, drawing upon only the finest Bay Area predecessors for its amplified, cushioned cartwheels into the paisley nebula.