The Swell Maps - Helicopter Spies

 "Swell Maps was a big influence on our early records ... they had these songs they fucked up somehow to make sound really dirty and low frequency, but they had these great songs underneath all this mess"
Scott Kannberg (Pavement)

“The Swell Maps had a lot to do with my upbringing”
Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth)

A classic today from a band that have been around, in one form or another since 1972 (Brothers, 16 year old  Nikki Sudden and 12 year old Epic Soundtracks very much embraced the diy ethic, playing instruments like telephone books and boxes to create their own bedroom music). From Birmingham, Swell Maps only really got going properly after the punk explosion paved the way for bands like this to get the opportunity to get their ideas across. 1977 saw the release of the much loved debut single, Read About Seymour, they made 3 more singles plus 2 albums (A Trip To Marineville and Jane From Occupied Europe) before parting ways in 1980. Sonically more adventurous than most of their contemporaries, their legacy lives on through the many bands who they influenced. From their 2nd album, this is Helicopter Spies.....

There aren't that many trees in Arabia
Think how many you've seen.
I'd rather buy a moat than another lawn
Back with the guns again.

Helicopter spies always break new ground
Deep hidden in sacks of grain
They never have time to dig up the beds
Back with the guns again.

Helicopter spies-they make me cry.
Helicopter spies-they make me cry.

You're always cutting through the undergrowth
There's a passage inside the trees
If you find your way through the tailor's shop
You'll probably be asleep.

I'd rather take a day off and find you alive
Than to push through the coral alone
You think you'll find the lagoon again,
But they often sink away.

Helicopter spies-they make me cry.
Helicopter spies-they make me cry.

Helicopter spies always rush around
Their jackets often fall off
They never have time to put them back on again
They're always tough enough.

Helicopter spies-they make me cry.
Helicopter spies-they make me cry.
Helicopter spies-they make me cry.