Swingin’ Utters

Live in a Dive (Fat)
by Grady Gadbow

I’m not a big Swingin’ Utters fan but if I was, I’m sure I’d be stoked get a 23-track live album with all the hits, some acoustic tracks, and bits inbetween where they say dumb stuff. There’s also an enhanced thingy where you can see them say dumb stuff on the ‘puter.

The coolest-sounding part is the unplugged segment in the middle, but the whole thing is recorded pretty well for a live album. Then again, that’s no great feat of engineering, as the Utters’ sound is a little on the thin side anyway, and the bleed-through and crowd noise just fills in the gaps a little. It still sounds pretty clean, and I wish they’d turn up the guitars.

The interview portion is kind of pointless, but kind of interesting, too. The telling admission that the singer steals his lyrics from his wife’s poetry came as a surprise, while the fact that the guys in the band work regular jobs and drink beer, not so much, cuz who doesn’t?

For long-time fans, it’ll be cool to see the guy playing the accordion on “London Drunk.” For anyone wondering if they should check out these Swingin’ Utters they’ve heard so much about, this album should answer all their questions.
(www.fatwreck.com)