A Screw
A Screw is the third EP by the New York City experimental rock group Swans. The EP's three songs were later appended as bonus tracks to the CD release of Holy Money.
| A Screw | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| EP by | ||||
| Released | May 2, 1986 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 15:20 | |||
| Label | K.422 | |||
| Producer | Michael Gira | |||
| Swans chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [1] |
Background and composition
The EP's title track sees the band diving their farthest into the realm of industrial dance music, complete with dubby, distorted vocals and complex programmed rhythms, a distinct contrast to the naturalistic album version.[1] The piano-driven ode to obsessive love, "Blackmail", was Jarboe's first Swans track as lead vocalist.[1] A reworked version of "Blackmail" appears on the 1987 album Children of God.[2]
Regarding his contribution to the EP's title track, drummer Ted Parsons said:
"But you know the first recording I did with Swans, was "A Screw" on Holy Money? I get in there – I can’t remember what the studio was – and Michael Gira the singer said, "Well, you know what? There’s no drum kit here, we just want to set a snare drum up in the hallway and have you hit it." And I was like, "What? OK." So they set the snare up in this big hallway down this corridor, and I hit the drum, and that was it. They sampled it, and he said, "OK, that’s great, go home." That was it. That was "A Screw.""[3]
Track listing
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "A Screw" | 5:40 |
| 2. | "Blackmail" | 4:42 |
| 3. | "A Screw (Holy Money)" (Mix) | 4:58 |
| Total length: | 15:20 | |
Notes
- Track 1 and 3 were mislabeled on most original releases. Later issues like the "Greed/Holy Money" compilation corrected this.[4]
Personnel
- Michael Gira – vocals, samples, sounds, piano, bass
- Norman Westberg – guitar
- Harry Crosby – bass
- Algis Kizys – bass
- Jarboe – vocals, backing vocals, mirage
- Ronaldo Gonzalez – drums
- Ted Parsons – drums
- Ivan Nahem – drums
- Greg Grinnell – trumpet
- Keene Carse – trombone
Charts
| Chart (1986) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UK Indie Chart[5] | 4 |
References
- Raggett, Ned. "A Screw". Allmusic. Retrieved March 2, 2013.
- "Children of God Discogs entry". discogs.com. Discogs. Retrieved December 14, 2017.
- Fernando, S.H. "Interview: Swans, Prong, and Godflesh drummer Ted Parsons". daily.redbullmusicacademy.com. Red Bull Music Academy Daily. Retrieved December 14, 2017.
- "Original "A Screw" Discogs entry". discogs.com. Discogs. Retrieved December 14, 2017.
- Lazell, Barry (1997). Indie Hits 1980-1989. Cherry Red Books. Archived from the original on June 6, 2011. Retrieved September 5, 2014.
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