Raise

Swervedriver’s debut album, following what often seemed in UK indie terms like a requisite three EPs, combined the lead tracks of each of those releases with six more to create a classic case of grass-is-always-greener — where so many listeners in the US were obsessing over UK bands inadvertently creating shoegaze, Swervedriver themselves were clearly dreaming of America. Adam Franklin’s wounded drawl sounds like a somewhat winsome J. Mascis more than once, and there’s a frayed-at-the-edges sprawl to the performances that makes for great highway-driving music.