Although they made a bit of a splash with their later recordings under the name Kalima (still more or less a going concern to this day), Manchester's SWAMP CHILDREN were a relatively short-lived affair, releasing just a couple of EPs and the album "So Hot" during their lifespan of roughly early 1980 to late 1982.
A sextet led by vocalist Ann Quigley's silky vocals, the Swamp Children were often mistaken as purely an offshoot group from Factory labelmates A Certain Ratio, mostly by dint of sharing a rehearsal space and one member in drummer/ trumpeter Martin Moscrop. However, excepting a penchant for then-crucial rubber-thumb basslines, both bands were poles apart sonically, with Latino jazz every bit as integral as hard, disciplined funk to the Swamp Children manifesto.
"So Hot" was initially recorded for Factory Benelux and only a little later picked up by late Joy Division/ New Order manager Rob Gretton, so it remains one of the more obscure jewels in the Factory crown to this day, but more power to LTM for again re-introducing a band who's catalogue may be slim, but largely worthy of posthumous consideration.
Instead of ACR and the proliferation of white boy funkers of the time, Swamp Children were actually far closer in spirit to a clutch of early '80s sophisticates such as Weekend, Swans Way and Animal Nightlife and in fact shared a bill at London's ICA entitled "The Joy Of Mooching" with several such like minds during the summer of 1982. This disparate 'scene' didn't produce any lasting stars, but certainly "So Hot" is one of the most notable releases to come from the period.
Which isn't to say "So Hot" is a seamless listen, because it isn't by some way. Indeed, several of the early tracks expose glaring flaws, such as the scary, Mark King-style fretless bass on "El Figaro", thus seriously dating the recording, while both the skittery jazz of "Sunny Weather" (blighted by guest Elvio Ghighiordini's flightly flute) and the percussive instrumental "Samba Zippy (Pt.2)" try far too hard to attain sophistication through busy rhythms. The Spanish guitar on the latter is also frighteningly close to John Williams territory for comfort.
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Nevertheless, "So Hot" still has plenty going for it elsewhere. Indeed, when they get it right, like on the sultry, Brazilian-influenced "Tender Game" or the lovely, lazy and measured "Spark The Flame" they're nigh on irresistible. Here, the playing is deliciously inventive and Ann Quigley's vocals waft around like wisps of Gauloise smoke, reinforcing her image as the Astrud Gilberto of Ancoats. Great. Further possibilites spring up with "No Sunshine" and the closing "Secret Whispers" too. The former is a patient groove with Arabesque keyboards and modulated vocals, while the latter is the chunkiest dance-pop crossover fare here and a punchy way to sign off.
Typically, that's not quite all as LTM have also included the band's two pre-album EPs to complete the picture. Not surprisingly, these songs represent the blueprint being drawn up and include at least two further gems in "You Got Me Beat", which is insistent, fagged-out and decadently attractive post-midnight pop while "Little Voices" was the band's first recording in March 1981 and - with co-production from Cabaret Voltaire's Stephen Mallinder - is experimental, sprawling and holds a Cabs-like dubby undertow and paranoid atmosphere close to its' chest.
Owing to a combination of Factory struggling to market a band with a growing interest in samba and bossa nova rhythms and the group's own uneasiness with their name as their music continued to develop in terms of sophistication, The Swamp Children mutated into Kalima at the dawn of 1983. Theirs is another story altogether, but their past remains essential to the plot. For all its' flaws, "So Hot" is a cool record to discover and enjoy all over again.
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