Two Lone Swordsmen :: Wrong Meeting (Rotters Golf Club, CD)

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(05.14.07) So Two Lone Swordsmen are back. From the men who brought you an array of
releases on Warp Records, they have returned to their own label: Rotters
Golf Club. This latest LP is entitled Wrong Meeting. But, on this latest
outing the partnership of Andrew Weatherall & Keith Tenniswood have laid
down their synthesizers and picked up something much more traditional.

The Swordsmen have made a shift not only in their sound with this release,
but the sound of their label. Moving away from the electro centrism of their
past sound, Wrong Meeting is more or less a rock album. Perhaps some
mightn’t find this at all shocking, some might even call it an evolution in
sound, but it seems to be quite a change from their other material.
Nevertheless, have they managed to make the leap from electronics to
acoustics is the big question. The album, also available on a limited box
set LP, opens up with “Patient Saints.” The track has a slow, gritty rock
style with late nite lyrics. An ok opener but nothing too exciting.
“Rattlesnake Daddy” has some synthesized elements, but clean beats and bass
lines are the focal point. The track is laid back, with a sleepy, sleazy
Motel6 rock feel as girl-boy vocals fall back across one another. “No Girl
in My Plan” moves in with a classic rock and roll feel, yet somewhat
distorted by electric sound. The vocals are stressed and electrocuted but
the beats and melodies keep a new age NY greasy rock feel. Electronic buzzes
are floated in amongst the medley to produce a pretty interesting track.
“Puritan Fist” pushes the line further, adding new layers of distortion to
this motorcycle mosaic. The sounds are dirty, engine polluted with
aggressive chained lyrics.

Rock ‘n Roll strings are stressed whilst the snares are kept pure for “Never
More (Than Just Enough).” The tempo is lowered, as guitar and vocals dance
in a trucker stop together in a Jacobite tango. Some light tones are slid
under the table with piano keys. “Wrong Meeting” swaggers in with brash
strings and vocals. The chorus doesn’t really seem to fit with the track,
but gives it some diversity. Tortured guitars lead the track out before
“Evangeline” screams in with fast chords and beats. The track is a modern
move on that vintage rock and roll sound with some automotive sound
injections punctured in; to be honest it sounds like a track you’ve heard
many times before. “Work at Night” settles in with much more relaxed
strings. The vocals reduce speed as twangs rise overhead. A rock lullaby
leading the listener to the album’s finish. The record is brought to an end
with “Get Out of my Kingdom.” Despite the rightist British sounding title,
the track is a relaxed and soulful completion to an album that is quite
difficult to measure up.

Wrong Meeting is a strange one to get your head around. After a
discography full of techno, idm and electro, for the Swordsmen to move into
this gritty rock arena can only be described as, to coin Disraeli, a leap
in the dark. It would be a running jump to call this evolution, more like
spontaneous transformation. The tracks have their merits, and as rock music
goes it is not bad; with the Swordsmen taking in a number of influences
whilst drawing on their own wealth of musical experience. But, it is
difficult to see where Wrong Meeting fits in the Rotters Golf Club
catalogue. Sure, it is never a bad thing to try new things but this seems
like a real pulling away from the label’s electronic roots. Nevertheless,
for a fan wanting to taste something new from the Swordsmen you won’t find
anything as different in their discography than this (plus the limited LP
comes with extra stuff.)

Wrong Meeting is out May 14th, 2007 on Rotters Golf Club. [Purchase]

Rotters Golf Club

Two Lone Swordsmen