Swift Years

What do you get if a Hungarian gypsy lands in the Deep South and joins a Celtic band playing mandolin? Montreal's Swift Years. This trio (mandolin, guitar, bass) are equally at home playing bluegrass and jigs as they are reinterpreting gypsy melodies or writing their own comedic songs. What makes Swift Years unique is the humour they approach their material with — both the lyrical and the instrumental. It is blatant in the lyrics of songs such as "I Dreamed I Stopped Smoking" where the singer receives the gift of a pot farm, and passive in the instrumentals where you'd swear the musicians broke into wide grins as they recorded. Even when the jokes are stale ("Bozo Repeater") the instrumental arrangements save the song and keep the momentum going.