A baseline turns to melody, guitars and keyboards follow suit, soft notes

repeat and reverberate until they catch the drum beat and become a

veritable wall of sound. Momentum reined in by the steady metronomic beat,

the volume and the tension build.

Indistinct vocals arise from nowhere, and the entire room is awash in a

swirling miasma of sound and more sound -- sound so thick it has no beginning

or end; sound so complete that the parts are nearly indistinguishable from

one another. Even here, in their rehearsal space, confronted only by one

another and a lone reporter, the eyes of every member of Austin quintet the

Swells drop and remain fixed, intently, on their own shoes.

Produced by Chris Cline, the product shows the time and effort put into the

recording, a steady mix of moody, emotive, instrumentally oriented

wanderings, and bright, concise pop songs that work together like peanut

butter and jelly. Alone, each has its own undeniable qualities, but together,

they become something far greater.

The result, Yesterday's Songs, lives somewhere between the relative

swagger of Luna and the intensely dreamy tones of Slowdive. The Swells

seem to have hit on a comfy and effective blend of Shoegazer and pop, not

sacrificing the more ethereal elements of long instrumental builds and bashes,

while developing and reveling in the catchy hooks they've found in and

among the sonic flotsam.

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