AMG Review of For All the Beautiful People

Greg Prato
All Music Guide

On their second release for Beggar's Banquet (and fifth overall), San Francisco's Swell continues their string of solidly consistent albums with For All the Beautiful People. Also, it marks the first appearance on record by new drummer Rob Ellis, who appears to fit in perfectly with Swell's schizophrenic musical style. Like past releases, Swell (which also includes founding members David Freel on guitar/vocals and Monte Vallier on bass/vocals) manages to cover a lot of ground. "Make Up Your Mind" sounds a bit like the Cars due to strange synth flourishes; the opener "Today" contains a fat and funky bassline, while the album's first single, "Everything Is Good," is a mixture of Weezer and '60s Stax recording artists (due to the presence of horns for the chorus). Swell seems at ease with all these different styles, as you can detect a laid-back and confident feel to the tunes. For All the Beautiful People is easily Swell's strongest record to date.