Tickets are now available for SWIRLIES at The Garage!
Swirlies is a first-wave American Shoegaze band, formed in 1990 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Their music melds elements of noise pop, Dinosaur Jr. style sludge rock, hardcore punk, and lo-fi tape experimentation with shoegaze-bent guitars and boy/girl vocal interplay. Swirlies were prominent in the early US shoegaze/noise pop circuit alongside bands like Velocity Girl, Lilys , Drop Nineteens, Polvo, and Helium and are known for their complex arrangements and innovative recordings. The band currently consists of founding members Damon Tutunjian (guitar, vocals, synths) and Andy Bernick (bass, synths), Deborah Warfield (synths, vocals, since 2000), Elliot Malvas (guitar, since 2011), and Kevin Shea (drums, 2002/2024),
After a series of 7″ releases on Slumberland and other labels, Swirlies worked with engineer Rich Costey (Muse, Mars Volta, Mew, Rage Against the Machine) and released ’What to Do About Them’ EP (1992), ‘Blondertongue Audiobaton’ LP (1992, featuring the college radio and skate video favorite “Pancake”), and their masterpiece ‘They Spent Their Wild Youthful Days In The Glittering World Of The Salons’ LP (1995), as well as the remix LP ‘Strictly East Coast Sneaky Flute Music’ LP (1998). More recent releases include ‘Cats of The Wild, Volume 2’ (2003/2024) and ‘Swirlies’ Magic Strop: Tonight…’ (2018).
Swirlies has actively toured over the past three decades, both as headliner on their own tours and in support of Kurt Vile (2013) and Nothing (2018). Recent festival top billings include Nice Fest (Boston), Slide Away (Philadelphia), And Always Forever (LA), and Levitation (Austin). Swirlies toured Europe (UK, Denmark, Belgium, and Switzerland) and recorded a Peel Session in 1994 and toured the UK and Netherlands in 2002. Tutunjian, who currently lives in Sweden, worked extensively with the Danish band Mew in the 90s and 2000s, and other members have performed and recorded with Lilys, Kurt Vile, and Lydia Lunch, among many others. The past five years has seen reissues of three of their classic LPs.
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