Swans: Children of God

Here's another band that need a good tickle (like Current 93). Swans seem to be the precursors to people like Marilyn Manson (though all I know of his work is what was in the Lost Highway film and of Sunn0))). (Now think of The Mission and The Sisters of Mercy, by way of contrast: though the sound is superficially similar, you always got the sense that they had their tongue at least half in cheek, and would be up for a tickling contest.)

This double LP sounds like it's been made by people who were sexually abused as children, which would be terrible if true, and I don't mean to make light of it in any way, but it makes listening a bit of a grind (thankfully, it is an LP, so I was able to listen to it one side at a time, instead of all the way through as you would a CD). Here are a couple of snippets from the lyrics to give you a flavour:

When I dream that sweet dream, when I forget where I am,
I will always remember your hand on my shoulder,
Pulling me down. Pulling me down.
Into the cold dead earth, take me down.

and

I am a dead man / No I am a dead man / I am selfish / I am unborn / I am unborn now / I am unborn / Need my love / Need my fake love

You get the idea. So why did I buy this? Back in around 1987 (when it came out), the NME used to mention Swans in the same breath as Sonic Youth — I think on the simple basis that they were both from New York and both featured 'noise' fairly heavily. But apart from that, there's no comparison. Give me Sonic Youth any day of the week.

MusicBrainz entry for this album