Friedrich Nietzsche once said, “Without music, life would be a mistake.” We all make mistakes in life, but to live without music would be a tragedy. There are many different styles of music in the world and everyone likes something different. It’s always good to explore and find new music from time to time; however, finding good new music can be difficult. I’d like to help you with that problem by doing an album review for you today.

I recently discovered the band Shovels and Rope and they’ve quickly become one of my favorites. Their music has singing, guitars, pianos, drums, and a variety of other instruments. It really suits my tastes. I’ve been enjoying listening to their album Swimmin’ Time. Swimmin’ Time was released on August 25, 2014. 114 years and one day after Friedrich Nietzsche died. The album cover is a life preserver that reads “Shovels and Rope” and “Swimmin’ Time”. The life preserver is sitting on what appears to be a piece of burlap.

Swimmin’ Time has thirteen tracks and no hidden bonus tracks that I know of. I honestly haven’t listened to all of it yet. The tracks are: The Devil is All Around, Bridge on Fire, Evil, After the Storm, Fish Assassin, Coping Mechanism, Pinned, Swimmin’ Time, Stono River Blues, Ohio, Mary Ann & One Eyed Dan, Save the World, and Thresher. I’ve listened to a few of the songs and I really like them.

I also like the band’s website. It has videos on it. It also has a picture of the band in a boat. The picture looks like it might be a little cold for swimming, but some people like that sort of thing. It doesn’t have any tour dates listed, but I’m sure they’re going to be playing somewhere eventually.

This band is pretty good. I give them 7 out of 10 stars. They are probably well worth spending a pocketful of money on.