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Swordfishtrombones
Rock · 1983 · 15 tracks

Swordfishtrombones

A radical pivot into junk-shop percussion and surrealist noir. Marimbas, brake drums, and gravelly tales from the urban fringe replace the piano ballads.

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It sounds like a drunken circus band playing inside a giant clock.

A gritty, surrealist exploration of the urban fringe told through clattering rhythms and weathered vocals.

Swordfishtrombones · vs · Tom Waits
Mysterious+1.9σ

Mysterious saturates this record notably more than the artist's norm.

Tracklist · 15 Tracks
01
Underground
2:01
02
Shore Leave
4:18
03
Dave the Butcher
2:21
04
Johnsburg, Illinois
1:34
05
16 Shells From a Thirty‐Ought‐Six
4:33
06
Town With No Cheer
4:28
07
In the Neighborhood
3:07
08
Just Another Sucker on the Vine
1:47
09
Frank’s Wild Years
1:54
10
Swordfishtrombone
3:08
11
Down, Down, Down
2:16
12
Soldier’s Things
3:23
13
Gin Soaked Boy
2:24
14
Trouble’s Braids
1:18
15
Rainbirds
3:15
Moments Worth Waiting For
The heavy, rhythmic thud of the percussion on 'Underground' that sounds like giants marching beneath the floorboards.
The unsettling, sparse marimba and whispered delivery on 'Shore Leave' creating a palpable sense of humid isolation.
The sudden, brassy celebratory march of 'In the Neighborhood' that feels like a funeral parade for a forgotten street.
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