the Great Explainer - the Way Things Swell - 10

Labels: Chunksaah Records
Review by: Thomas Strawbridge

I was in Philadelphia for one day after MDF and it turned out Lemuria was playing a show. After my typical misjudgement of distance (three quarters of an hour after reckoning on the tourist map it would take 10 minutes to walk) I got there just as The Great Explainer was finishing their set. It sounded pretty decent, and now I’ve got this debut ep to review. Get in!



With no expense spared this is a one sided 10″. Could have been pressed as a 7″ but someone involved obviously hates flipping stuff and that works just fine for me! There’s four tracks here which sound like a more cohesive Bridge and Tunnel, leaning towards the punk side of things more than everything else. The two vocalists complement each other well, one doing the clean thing and the other somewhere between Grade and Hot Water Music. Overall this is a solid debut but for me they just need to speed up a little as the slower parts don’t quite work for me. The faster parts are great though! If you liked the My Heart to Joy album then you should be into this. Definitely worth looking out for in future, and a good record to pick up for anyone who likes this style but doesn’t like flipping records.