The Swell Maps - Let's Build A Car

[MrEagleEartwig]

greatest song in the last 2000 years

[Gnasher77]

Been listening to Swell Maps since I was 3 months old, I'm now 3and1/2 that's 3 years 3 months do I win a prize?

[mpkpkm]

If someone doesn't love bands like SM,The Fall or Birthday Party it means he knows nothing about music.

[thedreamjesus]

@mpkpkm or she.

[mpkpkm]

@thedreamjesus I'll say like Beavis-Oh yeah,yeah...Sorry 'bout that...

[blikeredaxis]

Love this band. Better than any thing else at hte time, even the fall.

[losgrindos]

Swell Maps were from Solihull near to where I live. As kids they needed alternatives 'cos that place is very even. More resonant to me than bands that got a check in the post-Punk revival (e.g Gang of 4), because they truly experimented - all over the shop - you never know what you're gonna hear with Swell Maps. Epic and Nikki - truly remembered, never forgotten...

[mekanikCircadia]

these guys are totally awesome. been a fan since I was 12 (i'm 14)

[1800allyoucaneat]

oh my shit i haven't heard this song in forever, it is the best. the crumtone blast at the beginning is the most refreshing sound you can hear after spending hours in a guitar center listening to masturbating fuckwits stumble through weezer riffs.

[paulatkin83]

Thanks so much for making this its absolutely fantastic! So refreshing to hear the roots of UK punk music

[AiMuiNoodle]

this has an awesome beat

[CharlotteStarrhh]

How come all the dangerous punk tunes like this get lost in the leather trousers?

[vjeranst]

Nikki Sudden.... Epic Soundtracks.... all gone :(

[neolithics]

What a fucking filthy tune. I love it

[robodoll]

Andrea Enthal of KPFK was playing Swell Maps from the beginning. thanks for turning us all on...

[FungusMossGnosis]

@robodoll

Here here!

[robodoll]

@FungusMossGnosis

do you know what became of Andrea? i would record her shows for posterity sake. always loved her Anti-Xmas shows!

[FungusMossGnosis]

@robodoll

She's got all the tapes still, so I hear. I wrote her a couple times a while back. I wish they were in some archive. Maybe someday she'll digitalize them like Lou Curtis is trying to do with his.

I recorded as many as I could between '95-98, unfortunately I had most of them in storage and the Cedar fire took care of them 8 years ago down near Ramona. All I have left could be fit in a small shoebox.

I so miss 'Enthal, Bob Durkee and Max Hechter. Essential part of my youth

[robodoll]

@FungusMossGnosis

Do you know why she gave up being on the radio? Does she do a web broadcast? I do miss her too :(

That live in-studio that she did with the Dream Syndicate is classic!

[ashdavcz]

I didn't realise until just now how much Sonic Youth ripped this band off. An absolute gem

[954blade02]

OH, the mem's of bouncing around.

[dagoklaus77]

estos son padres de los strokes, maldicion por no ser como estos patas esto es excelente gracias npor colgarlo

[Audiocodes]

ace

[Gnasher77]

Quite clearly the coolest band that ever was.....

[markswampy]

I woz the sole Swell Map fan from the start at high school - some things neva leave ya - brilliant

[bikinikiller08]

Wow, this is fucking awesome. Thanks for uploading.

[AceOfWands9000]

Ahh Bye Bye Nikki Sudden - i remembering hearing the album at a really scruffy friends place (both the friend and the place LOL) - trippy, bitchy Boys Own Comics fantasies Ohh yeah and we met Jowe Head once too !

[redmist29]

Nice.

[hagasure]

this was a big hit in my house when i was a kid

[ginolight]

Masters of electro well before ! And with a strong message : the car ! Ted Milton (Blurt) also touched the subject : The body that was made for the car. Swell Maps were really unique, found about them in 1980/81 : my Berlin times (with the wall) . Chiuss! Gix

[dave85fxef]

I am 48. Been listening to this cut and loving it to bits since 1980.

STILL KICKS ASS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Best thing they ever did.

[pelle3948]

@dave85fxef I will be 48 in to months, haven´t heard them much, but like them a lot. I don´t think I´m to wrong when I think there´s a bit of the Pretty Things and Television in the sound, but a wery unique touch to it!

[theface79]

Sonic Youth built half of their career on ripping off this tune

[ginolight]

well sayd !

[Useless2112]

@theface79 That'll be the half that they never recorded or played live, then.

[XISTH]

Two words: pure genius.

[richardxs]

How I like to listen this fucking sound!

[jimmystagger]

Hearing these guys at age 22 changed my whole attitude towards music and what "alternative" and "punk " are and could be. Just turned 30 the other day and cranked up this album, much to the dismay of the neighbors and local authorities haha...

[haddockcheese]

they were probably dancing to it and went imediately to their record collection and put it on.

Can anyone put some of Epic Soundtracks solo album sings on.They are fantastic.

[ginolight]

Ha!ha! keep on playng them !

[cockadoodlewho]

the world was stagnating after the demise of punk then these guys came along. The 80s would have been dire without the alternative indie scene

[highburyhills]

My favourite punk song.... theeee deal.

[stubkar]

Also on "Int'l Rescue", check out the song "Real Shocks", about as good as it gets in my opinion...

[TheLateBlackRob]

Has anyone got live footage of Blam!!!! ?

[morphologies]

yeah i used to buy their records back in the day when i was a youth. zip nolan was the best imo, n a trip to marineville i liked cause it was nice to have a band that liked stingray. what.

[smarmymob]

anyone know the lyrics to this song?

[likeastoolpigeon]

yea,the perfect sound.

[jimsottile]

Songs like these only come along every once in a while.

[Dripser]

Fuckin great man...

[andymo9381]

swell maps were the greatest!

even greater than exhibit a!

[professorstrychnine]

Como si fuese la primera vez.

[kornoelje]

this is..., and still is... Punk guys! and garage, it was made in there. don't try to copy. make something new, and be inspired

[PhishPhan89]

its cool i dont want alot of kids to listen to good music like this cause theyre not worth it

[cpunctn]

You know,you might have a point there! They probably can't appreciate it anyway...

[cpunctn]

Sorry,i mean "you may have"... I got to be more careful with my texting! :(

[MrSExperience]

I would like to think that there are some kids lucky and tasteful enough to be into awesome punk rock like this. Are you out there, or is this kind of thing only adults like? I don't know if i would have liked the Maps as a kid.

[bamelajane]

Im an old Punk but my teen cousins are finally getting it.

[chrissstopherG]

i've had this record since i was 15, i'm 18 now

[cpunctn]

This music is absolutely mindblowing! It's a shame so many kids are wasting their listening to what commercial stations labels as "punk"or alternative music",while the classic bands go largely unnoticed...:(( Kids,THIS is the music you should be listening to!

[richmondpinch]

Swell, Swell Maps.

[theraincoats]

This video has some clips of Ana da Silva of The Raincoats playing with the Maps at a gig At ULU London when Biggles was sick.

[jasonbigelow]

Fantastic band,and one of my top ten songs of all time.

[dushti]

good 1980

[bobakerone]

nikki sudden lived here in athens, ga a short while but i do remember seeing him walk down prince ave to the store to buy some cigs

[jayjay4000]

Good Charlotte will never approach the greatness of this tune.

[oharamike]

'Build A Car' was released in '79. Here in America, so-called "rock" stations don't play good stuff like this (though they love to play garbage like Jackson Browne) so I never heard it until about 8 years ago after it came out on a Rhino compilation called PostPunk Chronicles.

[unrelatedsegments]

@oharamike I was lucky enough in the mid eighties to have college station, WPRB Princeton, where they would play this and all sorts of punk/hardcore related stuff. Man, I wish there were recordings of those shows. They actually had a 2 day punk music festival just non stop inspired music, before it became watered down.

[Goatonmychin]

Tight song ! ! what year is this flick?

[vicoland]

awesome, really awesome....

[brandini03]

NewWaver, the DIY scene now is blowing up. get with the times.

[NewWaver80014]

It's one of those timeless things. But glad you're such an expert on the subject.

[NewWaver80014]

These guys DIY'd it better than about 95% of their contemporaries.

Shame we will never hear this sound again.

[malletblow]

I only found this band through the book 'Rip It Up And Start Again'. Jesus, one of the best intros I've ever heard! Amazing riff

[6beelze6bub6]

i love swell maps.......so awesome.....and noone knows about them R.I.P Nikki.....whom died last year on mar 26....my birthday......

[modjohn]

The "this sucks" comment appears to have come from Azerbaijan. I don't think the Maps ever made it there. I saw Nikki and the Jacobites in Prague in the nineties, he was living in Berlin I think. It wasn't very good, frankly speaking. But I sure wish he and Epic were still around, would love to see them. Thanks for posting this, it didn't occur to me to look for them on You Tube until just now.

[HotBadgerDeluxe]

That's the great thing about YouTube - every now and then you remember an obscure band, and find a video.

[robdarney]

thanks for that denimdemon.

[robdarney]

awesome,virgin records swansea,a long time ago.....brilliant!

[nikjagger]

this pre post punk sound , sonic youth and alot bands own some to the maps

[nikjagger]

The Swell Maps = Nikki Sudden n Epic Soundtracks

both RIP

[sivapith]

I love the Swell Maps! I saw them play once, in London in 1998. It was at a memorial for their drummer Epic Soundtracks, who was the singer Nikki Sudden's brother. A bunch of other people played the show, but the best part was the end, when the three (then) living members of the Swell Maps played together for the first and last time since they'd broken up in, I think, 1982. One of the best rock shows I ever saw.

[Pollenissuekid]

Awesome band. I really should look into them.

[pathoplastic]

thanks...need more swell maps on youtube!

[postofficeuniformguy]

True brilliance! The Swell Maps rule.

[Kspose]

this sucks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[GardnerGoldsmith]

Awesome... One of the first videos I saw when I came to Youtube, and this is one of the best. Congratulations to the band for creating the song, and to the fan for making a superb video. In yer debt! RIP Nikki Sudden. Thanks for the work.

[shosner1]

best. band. ever.

[stankler]

the intro sounds like spacemen 3.yeah .forget kooks etc.latest crop of wankers.fratellis ..shudder...

[pkarlicek]

unforgettable band

[Spiritualized1]

Nothing, but nothing, compares to Swell Maps. All the current "punk" tossers should watch, learn and break-up.

[smithmarke]

What an intro !

[Degenerateen]

Nice.

[revellationsjohn]

I've come home at last! What a glorious racket!

[deBSE]

I LOVE the Swell Maps. Freakin' love 'em.

There will NEVER be another band like 'em. EVER.

[tympanitis]

I feel just the same as shaneday 3 months ago: ilove this band. a big thank you to the director. Keep Rock'n'Roll alive! cheers

[Jeaneathean]

Magnifique. And goodnight, sweet prince.

[drilltime]

I'M ASTOUNDED...SWELL MAPS..VIDEO?..NEVER..NO?

...YES...

 COCKS OUT METHINKS

[shaneday]

i love this band.a big thank you to the director.

[Carpet32]

The greatest band - the greatest racket - in the world.

Thankyou Duglas and Norman for pointing me in the direction of this awesome quartet of geniuses.

[rufuswilson]

One of the greatest rock songs ever written, by one of the most under appreciated bands ever!

[denimdemon]

NIKKI SUDDEN

July 19 1956 - March 26 2006

REST IN PEACE

:-(

[monolito]

This is ROCK

[harryballs]

R.I.P. Nikki Sudden