SWITCHhiTTER...

Since I’ve pretty much covered both Distorted Pony and Sweet Pea on this blog at some point or another I might as well dedicate a bit of space on here to the project that followed both of those for founder/member David Uskovich in the form of SWITCHhiTTER. The band was comprised of Uskovich, Jason Ward, and Ron Miller. The trio managed to put out one full-length record in ’99 titled Academy, an EP called Fer-de-Lance in 2002, and scattered through there was a single and some compilation tracks. Unfortunately I don’t have the single and the comp tracks, anyone want to hook me up?

As far as SWITCHhiTTER goes, it’s a really close race between Distorted Pony and them to which I like more. It will probably still always be Distorted Pony, as it’s hard to beat out that material However, sometimes SWITCHhiTTER hits me just right to which I begin to think it over a little more and I always end up at that same conclusion, but something that forces that type of decision is obviously doing something right. And that they were, as SWITCHhiTTER ran post-punk through the grinder and tore it to shreds to end up with one nasty sound that essentially made it all the more interesting. The bands music is filled with plenty of out control guitar noise that is driven home with relentlessly pounding deep bass lines that harkens back to the more prominent period of noise/math rock in the early to mid nineties. Some might say it’s dated, oh well. I personally felt like it was a great combination and balance between some of the greater aspects of David U’s previous projects and at that current times musical climate. If anything it’s a lot more reckless and inspired than a lot of the calculated fluff that poses a post-punk today. There is plenty to like here, especially for fans of any of the previous bands. I definitely suggest checking out the tunes below for those that haven’t heard it before.

Academy:
SWITCHhiTTER – Oklahoma! [MP3]
SWITCHhiTTER – Varsity [MP3]

Fer-de-Lance:
SWITCHhiTTER – Empty Mess [MP3]
SWITCHhiTTER – The Story of Eurotrash [MP3]

There are still some used and new copies of both Academy and Fer-de-Lance on Amazon. For the price I definitely recommend picking them up, well worth it. As always enjoy!