Scott's Song by Song #63: The Swan Chorus - Blood and Tennis Rackets

 

Welcome to issue #63 of Scott’s Song By Song (#scottssongbysong).For more information about this series, click here: 

https://www.facebook.com/share/Gc2VkwHQWGLdeaDd/?mibextid=oFDknk

This time around, I am taking a deep dive into the fourth album by The Swan Chorus titled “Blood and Tennis Rackets”.  Regular readers of my song-by-song reviews will remember that I have also reviewed their second and third albums, “Achilles and the Difference Engine” (2023) and “You’re Despicable” (2025) (click on the Swan Chorus label following the article to read the other two).  The one for “Achilles…” has a brief band history for those who are interested; they really have a long and interesting history. At this stage of the game, the band is really a duet of David Knowles and Colin McKay.  Both are credited with “all instruments” on this release, while McKay is also credited with all vocals.  This time around, they have delivered 19 relatively short tracks ranging from 1:08 to 6:15.  The digital copy of the album comes courtesy of David Knowles, and as always, I receive no other compensation, and am free to call it as I hear it.  Both previous releases I have reviewed have garnered a 4.25 out of 5 stars (85%); I have generally enjoyed their efforts.  Of note on this album, the info sheet that accompanied the album has a bit of insight about where each song got its inspiration, so to speak.  I will include that info at the beginning of each song’s segment. As usual, this is a cold listen.

Track 1 - Bats and Spiders (1:11)

From the band: A little bit Batty and a little bit Spidery.

A drum fill gives way to a rockabilly beat and an upbeat jazzy horn section.  About halfway through a vibrato synth part enters. This is a fun little intro that might be good to play at a Halloween party!

Track 2 - Blood and Tennis Rackets (Orchestral) (3:42)

From the Band: A quote from The Gauntlet referencing Clint Eastwood’s armoured Greyhound bus. I paraphrase: ‘If Shockley tries to drive that thing into Phoenix there’ll be blood and tennis rackets all over the highway.’ (this seems to apply to track 3 as well).

A low end piano riff kicks it off, with some hi hat.  The “orchestral” parts join, with some bongos for good measure.  This sounds like something from a movie soundtrack!  I love the syncopated rhythms. At 2:14 there is a quieter high register piano part, and what sounds like a french horn takes the melody. Cool tune, I believe Henry Mancini would approve!

Track 3 - Blood and Tennis Rackets (1:17)

A little wah-wah guitar part starts us off here. Very cool riffing.  I love the bass line.  Great guitar lines!  A continuation of track 2 in prog band style.  My only issue is it isn’t long enough. Great little track

Track 4 - Five Go Fusing (4:05)

From the Band: – it’s in 5 and it kinda skews Fusion. 

It begins with sweeping synths, before the syncopated 5-8 rhythm joins in.  It definitely has the promised fusion feel. Knowles' synth solo is fantastic. There is a quieter section about halfway through.  Cool track.  I am surprised that we are 4 tracks in, and all of them have been instrumentals, this far.  They’ve been great, though.

Track 5 - Chicago Sunroof (2:06)

From the Band - – Starts out all Leo Kottke and ends up like an outtake from Fragile. Title is from a moment of inspired scatological vengeance perpetrated by the great Jimmy McGill before he became Saul Goodman.

I had to look up the “Breaking Bad”/”Better Call Saul” reference as I am not into those shows.  However, I do know that Leo Kottke is a great acoustic guitarist, and “Fragile”, of course, is one of Yes’ finest albums.  That’s a lot to achieve in just over 2 minutes, but let’s see what happens.  Yep, acoustic fingerstyle intro, and another string instrument as well.. Sounds like something from a Steve Howe solo album.  At about 1:10, the rhythm section enters and it does get a Yes-feel. Another very cool, but too short, instrumental.  I wouldn’t mind it being developed into a longer piece, but very cool, nonetheless.

Track 6 - Ask Dr. Karl (2:26)

From the Band- a whimsical thing written partly as a tribute to the marvellous Australian science communicator.

Another reference I had to look up; yes that is a real person.  Piano and synth start us off here. We have vocals, although wordless, and they sound like a female, perhaps sampled.  This is another one that sounds like it could be in a movie soundtrack.  It gives me “Star Trek” vibes.  But, still another great (essentially) instrumental track.

Track 7 - Cinderella Revolution (6:15)

From the Band - A vow made in earnest that somehow doesn’t last beyond midnight.

This is the longest track on the album at only 6:15.  A big, fat, synth bass starts this one. A groove begins to develop, with 80s style electronic drum sounds. This one has an ominous feel as it progresses. It is also quite cinematic.  At around 2:25, the synth chords and tone remind me of “The Miracle” by Queen.  Some guitar enters at around 3 minutes.  The guitar part develops into a strong guitar solo.  This track has a bit more time to develop, and I am really enjoying it.  Did the Swan Chorus slip an all instrumental album on us?  Is Colin McKay’s “all vocals” credit a misnomer?  Time will tell, but I am truly enjoying all of the pieces on this album, so far!

Track 8 - DadGad in Bhagdad (3:17)

From the Band - a guitar tuning approved by Jimmy Page. 

As a guitarist, I recognized “DADGAD” immediately.  I am sure they will be employing that tuning, here.  It begins with upbeat strumming and a mandolin. A sitar seems to be on board, too.  Knowles takes over on synth before long.  There seem to be some wordless vocals here too.The groove gets really steady around 1:30.  I am loving this!  I hear some steel guitar too.  This is really rockin’ at around 2:30. A lot of sounds layered in a nice satisfying short piece.

Track 9 - Get Bach (3:47)

From the Band - An execrable pun that I hope McCartney and Johann Sebastian would smirk at.

A harp-sound begins this one.  A big synth tone takes over in a neo-classical rock groove.  It reminds me of a harder rocking Rick Wakeman “Six Wives of Henry VIII” kind of thing.  They really do seem to be all instrumentals here, and I have loved every one of them.  This arrangement is wonderful!  Possibly my favorite one so far!

Track 10 – Another Krelboyne Incident (1:08)

From the Band - You have to love Malcolm in the Middle and They Might be Giants to appreciate this . . .

So, thanks to Google I now understand that the Krelboynes are the name of the gifted students group at Malcolm’s school in the show.. And the TMBG did the music for the show.  I did watch that show a bit back in the day, but it’s been a while… It begins with dramatic orchestral music.  Another one that sounds like a soundtrack piece.  Very cool! But also very short!  

Track 11 - Killer in the Rain (2:29)

From the Band - Title from a Raymond Chandler (Phillip Marlowe) short story.

The character Philip Marlowe, created by author Raymond Chandler, became the quintessential film noir private detective as portrayed by Humphrey Bogart and others in the 1930’s and 40’s. It does indeed have an air of mystery about it as the music begins.  These guys are very good at writing and producing music that seems like it should be part of a movie or TV soundtrack. Another cool track!

Track 12 - Open Season (5:24)

From the Band - Duck season or Rabbit season, better ask Elmer.

Shall we expect some Looney Tunes music here?  Let's see. A synth part with delays starts us off here.  It goes into a nice steady groove eventually, kind of funky, even. It’s kind of in the vein of “Axel F” or Herbie Hancock’s “Rockit”. Mix in a little surf guitar here and there.  It’s a fun groove for sure, but I wouldn’t expect to hear anything like it in a Looney Tunes cartoon.  At this stage of the review, I will be surprised if there are any traditional vocal songs.  I am certainly enjoying all of the instrumentals, though!

Track 13 - Paging Captain Kazoo

From the Band - In 1980 our first guitar player, Dave Buckley picked up a marching band tunic from a charity shop and wore it on stage. The legend ‘Captain Kazoo’ was stitched into it.

Staccato synth sounds that remind me of little rubber balls bouncing around start this one off.  A sustained melody joins before the rest of the “band” begins to join in with accents.  We have some odd-meter here.  This is more overtly prog than much of the album so far.  Knowles (and perhaps McKay, too) have layered some wonderful synth sounds here.  We do have some vocals that sound like they were processed through a vocoder or something similar, chanting what I make out to be “ay-ay-ay-ay-k-o” at around 2:25, make of that what you will, but I like the way it sounds. A truly interesting piece, that ranks among my favorites on the album. (Despite the title, I did not detect any kazoos in the mix.)

Track 14 - Running With Scissors (3:12)

From the Band - Don’t know why it starts out like Beethoven but he would probably roll over if he could hear how it turns out.

Well, with that intriguing tidbit, let’s see what we have.  We do indeed have piano and classical orchestration at the beginning. At 35 seconds though, we have electronic sounds, and a short solo, before a bass groove takes over. Drums and a guitar pattern join in and the orchestration returns. Some distorted guitar chords take over the spotlight as we approach 2 minutes.  It rocks out until the end.  I dunno, I think Ludwig would enjoy it.  I sure did.

Track 15 - Smith and Wesson (2:37)

From the Band - A Keith Emerson, Dirty Harry mashup that seems long overdue.

Let's see if it “makes my day” (...I’ll go sit in the corner for a few minutes after that one…).  Definite ELP Hammond vibes!  It has a great syncopated beat. Electric piano takes over just before one minute.  Then a moment of sinister piano, before a 70s “adult film” wah-wah guitar groove comes in. I love how smoothly they change vibes in their music.  We have a horn-section thing happening before the heavily left and right panned electric piano finishes it off.  All of that happened in a little over 2.5 minutes.  I have listened to 20 minute jam band tunes that did less.  Super-cool track.

Track 16 - This Won’t Hurt a Bit (4:38)

From the Band - It’s what dentists say. Dentists lie . . 

We have a big intro with some great playing.  A funky, Santana-like groove takes over, and the guitar takes the lead here.  Lot’s of great playing on the guitar and the keys here. (I have to assume it's a drum machine on the album, but it's well-done).  There is a quieter part at around 2 minutes with some shimmering synth tones underneath. At around the three minute point, a bass shuffle takes over.  I really like this one!  And, no, it really didn’t hurt.

Track 17 - Weekend Update with Norm McDonald (3:35)

From the Band -  Miss you every single day, Norm!

Don’t we all!   The intro has King Crimson “Red” vibes.  But the following groove does have the underlying “TV News Theme” feel happening.  KILLER guitar playing from McKay I believe.  On the second go-round, there is some sort of talk-box thing happening, that I can’t quite place.  But most of this has a fusion feel to it.  At least until the grand piano, ballroom playing takes over.  The fusion feel returns as the track fades out.  Another great piece!

Track 18 - Xenophobia Jones (2:40)

From the Band -  Just how many Indian and Chinese antagonists are slaughtered in Temple of Doom?

Let’s let that question linger as we listen.  Bowed-string sounds start off here.  It is another nice bit of orchestration, that could be an excerpt from a movie soundtrack.  Even these short pieces have an epic scope about them. Near the end guitar and drums join in. Great little piece!

Track 19 - You Fascinate Me (4:04)

From the Band - The bastard offspring of Bernard Herrmann and Ennio Morricone. Title from something Clooney said to Zeta Jones in the Coen Brothers Unfaithfully Yours.

Indeed, Bernard Herrmann and Ennio Morricone are both classic film score composers.  Hermann is famous for “Psycho” and Morricone for “Spaghetti Westerns”.  So I am right in my assessment that film scores seem to be the main inspiration here.  Let’s find out what the final track has to offer.  This one has quiet orchestral strings at first, yet the spaghetti western flute makes a brief appearance.  Then a backdrop of strings and glockenspiel supports a nylon string acoustic guitar part.  A vibrato-laden electric guitar comes next as a drumbeat kicks in.  There is a lot of development here.  A trumpet feature gives way to a galloping beat with an organ swell,  and we have a bit of progginess as we approach the ending.  Wow, they “threw in everything but the kitchen sink” here, but it worked.  A suitable ending to the album, to be sure.

OVERALL IMPRESSIONS:

For one thing, I certainly feel smarter each time I review a Swan Chorus album, as I have to look up so many references.  But this was a very different ride from them.  While I have occasionally picked up on movie soundtrack influences in the other two albums I have reviewed, they really leaned into it with an essentially instrumental album.  I wonder if they have submitted this to any movie producers to see if they would commission them to write a soundtrack, as I believe the evidence on this album certainly would suffice as a worthy audition.  I have enjoyed the other two Swan Chorus albums I have reviewed, but this one takes the cake for me.  And it has nothing to do with McKay’s singing on the other ones; he’s a wonderful vocalist.  But this music just captivated me from start to finish on this album.  I am going to give this one a 4.75 out of 5 stars (95%) rating. I highly recommend it!   Check out the Links for Listening below.

__

Thanks for reading.  If you enjoy my content, please react, comment, share and follow my page.  

Also, I have now compiled all of my reviews and spotlights going back to the 100 Greatest Prog Albums challenge on my new Blogger site.  I hope you’ll check it out here:

https://scottssongbysongandspotlights.blogspot.com/

Please SUBSCRIBE if you like what you see, and COMMENT on my posts there!  If you really like what you see, then “Buy Me a Pizza” at the link on the left!

Prog On!

Scott

—

Links for LIstening (and Buying)

Here is the Bandcamp page on which to purchase a digital download, as they are not offering CDs or LPs at this time:

https://theswanchorus.bandcamp.com/album/blood-and-tennis-rackets

There are also two “trailer” videos on YouTube, The first of which ludicrously has a trigger warning from YouTube, but its music from the album set to clips from cheesy horror “B-Movies” from decades ago:

https://youtu.be/V4FnaSrnWwg

The second one has more bits of music from the album set to a video loop of a swan flying in front of an ominous red sky over the plains.

https://youtu.be/Ob2nAmsR46Y?list=RDOb2nAmsR46Y