Swervedriver

Swervedriver formed in Oxford in 1989 around Adam Franklin and Jimmy Hartridge, and while the bands around them were staring at their shoes, this lot were staring down the highway. They came on heavier than their shoegaze contemporaries, all revving guitars and road-movie momentum, and by 1993 the lineup had finally settled: Franklin up front as singer and guitarist, Hartridge beside him as the second guitarist, Steve George holding down the bass and Jez Hindmarsh behind the kit. Mezcal Head arrived that same year carrying "Duel", a roaring, fuzzed-out rush with a melody hidden under the exhaust fumes.

The ride was never smooth. Between 1989 and 1998 they made four studio albums and a pile of EPs and singles while members, managers and labels came and went, and the sound kept widening to take in psychedelia, classic pop and indie rock. Label trouble and fading enthusiasm inside the band finished them off at the end of 1998.

A decade later they got back together and toured on and off, and in 2013 the single "Deep Wound" became their first new music in fifteen years. Since then they have made two more albums, 2015's I Wasn't Born to Lose You and 2019's Future Ruins, and drummer Mikey Jones and bassist Mick Quinn, first hired as stand-ins for the road, have become full members.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.