Brokedick Car finds
the Swirlies playing around with some of the more memorable songs from Blonder Tongue Audio Baton, including a trimmed and cleaned-up version of "Wrong Tube" and two alternate takes on "Pancake." "Pancake Cleaner" delivers what its name promises: a version of the Blonder Tongue epic with clean instead of fuzzy guitars, for an effect that's chiming instead of fizzy. "House of Pancake" is a Casio-inspired remix of the song, replete with canned drum rolls and a heavy dance beat.
Brokedick Car also features two songs unavailable elsewhere, "Labrea Tarpit," comprised of atonal, twanging guitars and ringing telephones, and "You're Just Jealous," which starts outs as a sun-baked pop song but evolves into sludgy art-punk reminiscent of Pavement's early singles. While it consists of throwaway bits of experimentation,
Brokedick Car paints an enjoyable picture of
the Swirlies goofing around in the studio. ~ Heather Phares