Pitchfork

[Posted Thursday, November 6th, 2003 02:00:00 Pitchfork Central Time]

It's a fact: the true shoegazers never die, they just take extended hiatuses from their bands to issue genre-hopping albums under meaningless alter-egos while frequently covering songs from their former band's extensive back catalog. OK, as sayings go, it's not very catchy, but that's the deal with Adam Franklin, formerly of legendary Creation band Swervedriver. Since the non-breakup of Swervedriver nearly four years ago, Franklin has been periodically releasing music under the moniker Toshack Highway, touring the country (first with a band, then as a solo acoustic act) and trying to figure out what to do with a legacy as rich as Swervedriver's. And he moved to America (take that, Britpop snobs!).

According to the inexplicably up-to-date official Swervedriver site, Franklin is gearing up for a brief tour in support of his most recent release, Magnetic Morning / Aspirin Age, a split two CD set with Swervedriver devotees Sianspheric. The tour is being billed, in somewhat unwieldy fashion, as Adam Franklin of Swervedriver /Toshack Highway (at least you know what you're getting, but the marquee guy is gonna get a workout), and they'll be accompanied on all dates by The Roy Owens Jr., a super group of sorts that features members (but not the famous ones) of Crooked Fingers, Magnapop, and the X-Impossibles. However, the Swervedriver site is also quick to allay any fears of acoustic noodling this time around, as it reports that this will be an "electric tour, with a full band, and plenty of Swervedriver classics" (dude, just get the damn band back together already!). The announced dates are as follows, and there may be more to come:

11-07 Atlanta, GA - The Echo Lounge
11-08 Athens, GA - Tasty World
11-09 Charlotte, NC - Fat City Deli
11-10 Raleigh, NC - King's Barcade
11-11 Philadelphia, PA - Khyber Pass
11-12 Washington, D.C. - The Velvet Lounge
11-13 Baltimore, MD - Ottobar
11-14 New York, NY - Knitting Factory
11-15 Boston, MA - The Plan at Great Scott's
11-16 New Haven, CT - BAR

And speaking of the Swervedriver site, it's worth taking a gander at, even four years past their demise. In addition to keeping up with Franklin's latest hijinks, the site hosts a wealth of great quality free live MP3 downloads spanning the band's career, as well as purchasable copies of many of their long out-of-print albums, singles and EP's (including the never-released version of Ejector Seat Reservation with the extra track "It's All Happening Now," previously only available if you happened to be one of the fifteen members of their fan club back when it was released-- I was not, but a friend of mine was).