The Swirling Eddies was a sort of supergroup, made up of members of several well-known bands from the 80s and 90s Christian alternative scene, mostly centered around southern California. Although sometimes the band members took silly pseudonyms, it is widely know that members came from Daniel Amos, Adam Again, The Choir, and others.
The Eddies were the goofy counterparts to the members’ other respective bands, which more often than not tackled more serious subject matter in the music and lyrics. For the most part, this band put silliness and novelty first. Sure, there were still reflections on life and faith, but there was consistently a novelty side to the band.
Songs like “Hide the Beer the Pastor’s Here” (from sophomore album Outdoor Elvis tackled hypocrisy from a playful stance. Rumor has it that for the third album, Zoom Daddy, band members gave themselves the challenge of coming up with the song titles first, and then writing the songs around those suggestions. This resulted in some truly ridiculous lyrical fare, like “I Had a Bad Experience with the CIA and Now I’m Gonna Show You My Feminine Side.” Somehow the band still managed to include some more serious material on the album as well, including our SOTD selection for today.
The fourth record was an album full of CCM covers done in a playful manner, that at times bordered on downright mockery. It’s clearly all meant in fun, but there are more than a few jabs at some of the more ridiculous sides of contemporary Christian music.
I’ve always loved the guitar work on “The Twist,” so even though it’s not the best example of the silly side of The Swirling Eddies, that’s what I’ve chosen to represent the band for this week. Nonetheless if you enjoy playfulness, novelty or even comedy in your alternative rock, I encourage you to dig deeper into the band’s catalogue.