From the Cutout Bin: Headswim - Despite Yourself

"The hype is as high as an elephant's eye." - Headswim, "Hype."

Here's what I know about this band: I was supposed to see them open up for Our Lady Peace and Black Lab in the spring of 1998 in New Orleans, but they didn't show up. Word in the crowd that night was they'd dropped off the tour entirely. Also, I vaguely remember hearing the single "Tourniquet" on 106.7 the End.
Here it is:

Headswim formed in the early '90s in Essex, England, released a couple of singles, then got picked up by Sony. Despite Yourself was their second album. Was the hype really that big for Headswim? Wikipedia says "Tourniquet" was a top 30 single in the UK and a minor radio hit in the US. They did tour the US with Brad (the Pearl Jam side project) and Kula Shaker, but sales weren't great, they got dropped, released one independent single in 2000, then broke up in 2001.

I realize I only paid $1 for this thing, but it was quite aggressively mediocre. According to AllMusic, their first album, 1994's Flood, was very Pearl Jam-influenced. This one sounds like they listened to The Bends 30 or 40 times and then sat down to write some songs. The two singles, "Tourniquet" and "Better Made," are decent, but I can only recommend this one as a 25-cent super-cutout bin purchase (such as they have at Hastings), not a $1 bin buy.

So where are they now? Lead singer Dan Glendining formed a new band, BlackCar, who released an album in 2003 and now appear to be dormant. Check out their Myspace here. There are some Headswim rarities (including a cover of Gary Numan's "Cars") here.