Crooked Fingers : Swet Deth
Surveying the stuff-of-legend pedigree of Archers of Loaf rests on an Our Band Could Be Your Life level of superior indie rock-dom; that’s how beloved and impactful the ’90s-era so-called “white trash heroes” are viewed three decades-or-so on from ageless anthems like “Web in Front,” “Audiowhore” and “Harnessed in Slums.” Those shouty and stomping made-for-pogoing classics never, ever get old.
For erstwhile Archers’ frontman Eric Bachmann, the aces guitarist/singer/songwriter with three solo albums under his own name and, now, seven albums in as leader of his band Crooked Fingers, it’s a difficult shadow to break away from, escaping the legacy of an iconic underground rock force who also drop in occasionally (Archers’ reunion album, the incredibly underrated Reason In Decline, came out in 2022 plus they might play the one-off show and tour here and there). Bachmann, though, has pulled it off in spades, albeit just not on the same plane of notoriety the Archers enjoy. No matter.
Bachmann’s new album working under the Crooked Fingers moniker, and the first in 15 years after releasing an excellent pair of solo endeavors during the subsequent years, signals his natural adult-indie songwriterly progression, a perennial upward trajectory that began with Archers’ 1998 then-swan song White Trash Heroes and everything in between, to Reason In Decline. It’s now culminated with his current masterstroke, Swet Deth, an infectious and decidedly upbeat record rife with hooks but juxtaposed with commentary exploring brushes with death and mortality—Bachmann’s very own.
Just take a look at the playfully dark cover art drawn by Bachmann’s son that ostensibly serves as Swet Deth’s conceptual springboard: the drawing depicts a graveyard with one prominent tombstone scrawled with a rather morbid inscription that jumps right at you: “RIP Eric Bachmann.” The doodle also features spooky crows with Grim Reaper spears in tow circling overhead like a horror movie, a dark omen of Bachmann’s demise from the mind of a child. He did battle serious health issues, including a heart attack and ailments resulting from Covid. Thankfully, Bachmann lived to tell the tale and those experiences are ruminated over on Swet Deth.
There is a distinct sonic contrast to solo efforts such as 2018’s No Recover and when Bachmann determines a set of songs as a Crooked Fingers undertaking. The former is a more acoustic-leaning quietude while the latter, a louder and electric band-minded approach, is the blueprint Swet Deth attests to, alongside his band and collaborators made up of Jeremy Wheatley, Jon Rauhouse, Avery Leigh Draut and Skylar Gudasz. That’s clear-cut from the get-go.
Opening hard-rockin’ emotive salvo “Cold Waves,” with its intertwining guitars and crashing stops and starts with backing vocals by Superchunk’s Mac McCaughan, is an exhilarating and soaring lovesick anthem and a helluva way to kick off the record. In addition to his Merge Records boss McCaughan, Bachman enlisted his wife and a bunch of his pals who help bring his lush and texturally layered songcraft to glorious heights. On the deeply intimate keys-driven pop elegance of “From All Ways,” Bachmann revisits the anxiety that he faced during Covid times with a transcendent guest star turn from Matt Berninger of The National whose trademark baritone on the chorus seems to have a therapeutic effect; the new wave-ish synth-pop drive of “Haunted” sees Bachmann teaming with Sharon Van Etten and the duet is just heavenly; the downright haunting “Hospital,” with a vocal cameo from Bachmann’s wife, Liz Durrett, portended his health battles, balancing a saccharine melody with ominous warning signs in the guise of lyrics. And “Insomnia” might just be the catchiest song you’re going to hear about suffering a heart attack due to lack of sleep. Bachmann also aces 1970s top-down, freeway-riding vibes on the groovy “Spray Tan Speed Queen (In A German Car)” and “Empty Love and Cheap Thrills.”
Despite its grim real-life themes, Swet Deth isn’t exactly a downer record. In fact, the earcandy-level catchiness, incandescent and sublime arrangements and emotional breadth Bachmann lays bare adds up to the best batch of well-crafted and heart-on-sleeve songs—from start to finish—that he’s put on wax.
Label: Merge
Year: 2026
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Crooked Fingers : Swet Deth
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