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"To start again, we're the lucky ones" opens "Shelter," the first track on The Swimmers' People Are Soft, and with it rings the
sound of the band reinventing itself. On November 3, 2009, MAD Dragon Records (ADA) is proud to release the sophomore album from this Philadelphia
quartet—a staggering, vulnerable recording that distinguishes itself as a debut in its own right.
Following the success of 2008's Fighting Trees—The Swimmers' first release on MAD Dragon, which garnered rave reviews
from The Philadelphia Inquirer, Magnet, The Tripwire and Time Out Chicago—Steve and Krista Yutzy-Burkey, Scott French and Rick Sieber
decided to start fresh by building a home studio from the ground up and recording a new album entirely on their own. The hard-won results feature intensely
personal songwriting couched in distorted synthesizer hooks, crushing electric guitars and dark reverb swells. "It was a very focused and isolated time in the
studio, and much of the grit was in the mixing process. These songs were darker and more intricate than the last record, and they demanded a very affected,
refined sound," says lead singer/songwriter Steve Yutzy-Burkey.
From the opening track "Shelter" to "A Hundred Hearts"— the insatiably catchy gang vocal about the competing pulls of the human
heart—to "Drug Party"—a dream sequence of social disconnection propelled by overblown distorted guitars and brash snare hits—to "What This World Is
Coming To"— a diffuse, tender verse that collapses into quirky keyboard lines, handclaps and epic choruses—the sounds begin to form the fractured and
sentimental cast of characters that make up this record. The apocalyptic electro-pop of "Give Me the Sun," "Nervous Wreck's" triumphant chorus ("sing without
and hold together"), and the nostalgic spoken lyric of "Try To Settle In" all converge with the rest of the songs to flesh out the full meaning of the album's title—in
their isolation and comfort, allure and fragility, resignation and transcendence: People Are Soft.
Steve met his wife Krista, the Swimmers' keyboard player, when she was a harp performance major at a small liberal arts college in
Indiana. At the same college, Steve played in various groups with bass player Rick Sieber, who was working towards a degree in Library Science. The three
graduated and relocated to Philadelphia, where Steve, in response to an intriguing job listing, became a pipe organ tuner. There, he and drummer Scott
French began recording music together as they repaired and tuned massive church organs.
Previous to the formation of The Swimmers, Rick and Steve played for several years in the alt-country group One Star Hotel. In 2005, while
writing songs inspired by the John Cheever short story "The Swimmer," Steve presented the idea of a less serious indie-pop recording project to long-time
friends Scott, Rick and Krista. Very quickly these initial recordings "Heaven," "Pocket Full of Gold" and "All the New Sounds" began to get serious attention and
The Swimmers were born. Their piano-pounding, vocal harmony-laden debut album was proclaimed by influential WXPN program director Bruce Warren to be
"the best record not released in 2007," and Fighting Trees was subsequently picked up for release by MAD Dragon Records.
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For more information and materials contact Howard at Howlin' Wuelf Media at 215-428-9119 or howlingwuelf@aol.com
www.myspace.com/helloswimmers
http://theswimmers.com/press
www.maddragonrecords.com
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About MAD Dragon Records
MAD Dragon Records has released 15 titles since its inception in 2004. MAD Dragon has been featured in several hundred newspapers
and magazines in the US including CMJ, Billboard, Rolling Stone, Fortune and New York Times. The Associated Press (AP) has syndicated two
stories about MAD Dragon, including a recent feature covering The Redwalls appearances on The Late Show with David Letterman and The Tonight
Show with Jay Leno. They were awarded College Label of the Year by The Independent Music Awards in 2007 and 2008. The various MAD Dragon
releases include Dreams Don't Count by critically acclaimed songwriter Jules Shear, the gospel infused roots rock of Hoots &
Hellmouth (S/T) and their 2009 follow up LP, The Holy Open Secret, Matt Duke's literate and dynamic debut Winter
Child, rockin’ singer-songwriter Andrew Lipke's The Way Home and sophomore release Motherpearl & Dynamite, the
Swimmers indie pop darlings debut Fighting Trees, the annual Unleashed compilation
series (Unleashed 1,2 3, 4 & 5) and XYX. MAD Dragon released former Capitol Record recording artist The Redwalls'
eponymous CD, The Redwalls (S/T), in 2007. In 2005, MAD Dragon Records became the nation’s first student-run record label to secure a
national distribution deal with Ryko Distribution, a major player in the music and video business. MAD Dragon entered into a partnership with Rykodisc in
2008 to co-release Matt Duke's Kingdom Underground. Future MAD Dragon releases include the Swimmers forthcoming record, People
are Soft, due out Nov 3rd, 2009, a collection of Philadelphia artists covering David Bowie songs and the Brooklyn shoegazer's Twin Thousands
debut, featuring former members of Cursive and A Million Billion; both Twin Thousands and the David Bowie tribute are due out in 2010.
About Drexel University’s Music Industry Program
Housed in the Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts & Design, the Music Industry Program introduces students to the business and
technology sides of the industry through a hands-on, entrepreneurial approach. Students enrolled in the Music Industry bachelor's degree program will complete
part of their course requirements by managing all aspects of the program’s record label, MAD Dragon, including production, recording, marketing, copyrights,
contracts and distribution.
About the Antoinette Westphal College at Drexel University
The College offers twelve undergraduate and five graduate programs in media, design and the performing arts. Programs are taught in
small studio settings, featuring hands-on learning and a faculty of industry practitioners who emphasize the use of the latest technologies. The Antoinette
Westphal College is home to the Rudman Institute for Entertainment Industry Studies. Drexel is the premier co-op school in the country and is a top-ranked
national research university. Allen Sabinson is the Dean of the Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts & Design.
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