Over the past year street punk legends SWINGIN’ UTTERS tested the known limits of building anticipation.
In early 2010, to the delight of fans, the UTTERS ended a 7 year drought by entering the studio and recording
a brand new full-length record titled Here, Under Protest. As expected, with such a lengthy stretch between
albums the excitement over this news was profound. After initially laying down the tracks, numerous factors
including a relentless tour itinerary throughout 2010, studio scheduling conflicts, a bout of perfectionism, and
varied spurious reports of different release dates, combined to create an expectation level of Chinese Democracylike
proportions. The good news is, unlike the inevitable and colossal letdown of Chinese Democracy (sorry,
Axl), this story actually has a happy ending. Here, Under Protest unanimously delivers on every bit of the anticipation,
even more, it surpasses it. Comprised of 14 tracks Here, Under Protest drips with the signature punk
revival/country/Irish folk sound that has sustained SWINGIN’ UTTERS as one of the most successful independent
punk bands of their time. As always the song structures on each track reflect the UTTERS’ advanced
degree of musicianship through a fabric of clever guitar work, well timed hooks, and captivatingly interwoven
vocal melodies. Of course all of this is tempered with the grit and edge the band has always been known for. As
is custom for the UTTERS, the album features alternating vocalists (Johnny, Darius, and Spike), but this time
around they’ve added the fluid lead vocal abilities of guitarist Jack Dalrymple (famous for his work in One Man
Army and Dead To Me) to the mix. From top to bottom every song on Here, Under Protest is unique, memorable,
and exhilarating, and as a collection the album proves to be, dare we say it, well worth the wait.
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