Metroland

The Swimming Pools Qs
Royal Academy of Reality
(Bar/None)

Conventional wisdom would not have foreseen a new CD by The Swimming Pool  Qs in the year 2003. However, Jeff Calder has never had much use for conventional wisdom. Arriving in Atlanta from Florida, he put the band together in the late seventies. They were a powerfully alluring force live, combining Calder's fractured literary lyrics with churning rhythms that made them kin to both their rocking southern brethren and the hovering swamp gas of the Magic Band. Fronted by Calder and Anne Richmond Boston, their tandem vocals drew comparisons with Jefferson Airplane, but Calder's songs eschewed the blather, sci-fi and hollow call to arms of Kantner and Slick for more durable portraits of Dixie characters. They were like an Airplane fronted by Iggy Pop with a repertoire penned by Randy Newman.

Their indie debut The Deep End (reissued in expanded form a couple years ago) was followed by a signing to A&M for two albums, then another on Capitol and by the end of the eighties all became quiet on the new release front. The band never really stopped, playing periodically in Atlanta and surrounding environs. Royal Academy of Reality shows that they didn't stop growing either. A longtime coming, the disc boasts twenty songs to make up for the wait. No longer the young man who'd wail and bellow about unhinged, maniacal and criminal characters, Calder has allowed the natural flow of middle aged issues to roll into his writing. Instead of filling up space with powerful riffs and chest thumping volume, he's pondering the
infinity of space with finely layered arrangements. Guitarist Bob Elsey is still a key component of the band, but he's no longer dashing off crazed licks with the same abandon, rather, he's matching Calder step for step as his songwriting has expanded and quieted. Boston's only on hand for a few songs, and alas, none are showcases for her singing. But now the clock is ticking for the next album.

- David Greenberger