26 feb 2006 - salt lake city - kilby court

from newWest

Flying the Buckeye flag like their much more notorious Ohio cousins Guided By Voices, Swearing at Motorists shares another feature, former GBV drummer Don Thrasher, who you can see sitting in for a couple numbers on that group’s swan song live DVD, The Electrifying Conclusion. But Swearing at Motorists is really Dave Doughman’s brainchild; a vehicle for his songwriting, not as eclectic or epic as Robert Pollard of GBV, but more intimate, in the singer-songwriter mode, though not afraid to rock out at times. Amazingly so, for a two-piece, but Doughman has some nice chops on guitar. The new S@M release, Last Night Becomes This Morning, comes a full four years after their last album, and while it follows in the same vein stylistically, offers a new cosmopolitanism in lyrics written while touring Europe. There is still a bittersweet sadness in the very titles of songs: “This is Not How Forever Begins” and “Suicide On the Installment Plan.” This makes their reflection on those moments when the day hasn’t yet begun quite breathtaking.

--Bob Gendron

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