Lung: The Swankeeper [Album Review]

Lung
The Swankeeper
Feel It Records [2025]

“With The Swankeeper, Lung turns dynamic contrast into high art—balancing chaos, restraint, and raw emotion with fearless execution.”

Album Overview: Lung, the Cincinnati duo of classically trained cellist/vocalist Kate Wakefield and powerhouse drummer Daisy Caplan (ex–Foxy Shazam), have been carving their own path through DIY circuits since 2016. With The Swankeeper, their fifth studio album, they push further into strange, theatrical territory—maybe their heaviest record yet, and arguably their best.

Built around the unlikely but thunderous pairing of distorted cello and explosive drums, Lung’s sound is all about extremes: beauty and chaos, tension and release, control and unraveling. The Swankeeper doesn’t just lean into those contrasts—it thrives on them. Every track feels wired with purpose, whether it’s whisper-quiet restraint or full-on sonic detonation. There’s a precision here that sharpens their edge. This isn’t noise for the sake of it—there’s intention behind every jagged turn.

Take “The Witch,” where a ghostly siren-like vocal effect creeps in late and leaves chills in its wake. Or “Sunshine’s Over,” which spirals into a chaotic whirl, complete with some surprising whistling near its conclusion that somehow works. Volume spikes, tempo shifts, sudden pivots—it’s all part of Lung’s unsettling, exhilarating ride.

Musical Style: The Swankeeper lives somewhere between experimental rock, chamber-punk, and post-hardcore, with a flair for drama. Wakefield’s amplified cello often doesn’t sound like a cello at all—it growls, it buzzes, it howls like a guitar being exorcised. Caplan’s drumming is as much textural as it is percussive, alternating between thunderous propulsion and atmospheric restraint. And Wakefield’s voice? Unpredictable, acrobatic, and always commanding—part operatic force, part punk banshee.

Evolution of Sound: While earlier Lung records often charged ahead with brute force, The Swankeeper pulls back just enough to make each outburst hit harder. There’s more space, more contrast, and a willingness to explore texture and mood. Songs don’t follow standard blueprints; they wander, build, fracture, and sometimes collapse entirely before reforming into something new. It feels less like a collection of songs and more like a series of transformations.

Artists with Similar Fire: If PJ Harvey’s early records lit your fuse, or you dig the wild control of Screaming Females, you’ll find Lung in your wheelhouse. There’s a bit of Victory at Sea’s noir tension, the twitchy energy of The Jesus Lizard, and the art-damaged pulse of classic NoMeansNo. Tori Amos’ gothic storytelling comes to mind too—especially in the way Wakefield turns personal unease into theatrical release.

Pivotal Tracks: “The Mattress” sets the tone with slicing cello riffs and spiraling vocals that feel halfway between a chant and a possession. “Lucky You” unfolds in strange shapes—just when you think you know where it’s going, it pulls the rug out. “Clown Car” balances chaos with a slippery melodic core, keeping its weirdness on a leash just long enough. And “Firespell” is flat-out addictive—Wakefield rides the beat with a mix of power and grace, stretching syllables like elastic while Caplan drives it all forward.

Lyrical Strength: Wakefield doesn’t hand over tidy narratives—she paints scenes in smudged lines and surreal fragments. Her lyrics feel like overheard dreams or coded messages, full of emotional static and sudden clarity. There’s a poetic edge here, but it’s not delicate; it’s unsettling and sharp. Whether intimate or unhinged, her delivery makes every word feel necessary—even if its meaning stays just out of reach.

Final Groove: The Swankeeper is a bold, restless album that manages to be both feral and finely tuned. Lung doesn’t just push against genre boundaries—they light them on fire and dance in the ashes. This is the sound of a band fully locked into their own vision, tighter and stranger than ever, unafraid to explore where that might lead. Whether it’s their heaviest, most precise, or most adventurous effort yet, one thing’s clear: Lung isn’t settling down—they’re just getting more dangerous.

LUNG REVIEW HISTORY
Bottom Of The Barrel (2017)

LUNG LINKS
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