The Wild Swans are a post-punk band from Liverpool, England, formed by Paul Simpson in 1980 shortly after he left the Teardrop Explodes. Members of the Wild Swans have also been members of Echo & the Bunnymen, the Icicle Works, the Woodentops, the Brian Jonestown Massacre and the Lightning Seeds.
Their second album Space Flower is a fun, infectious, colorful album that came at a time when college rock was becoming increasingly dour and bland, replacing the earnestness of their previous Bringing Home the Ashes album with unabashed, playful psychedelia.
The cover depicts a big, sticky ball of pastel-colored candy — a perfect reflection of what’s inside. “Melting Blue Delicious”, a groovy piece of bubblegum pop, was the first single.
The album ends with the 10-minute trancelike space-out, “Sea of Tranquility”.
The record was produced by Ian Broudie (a veteran of the Liverpool scene). He had played in the post-punk band Big in Japan with Bill Drummond (future Bunnymen manager and KLF member), Budgie (future Siouxsie & the Banshees drummer) and Holly Johnson (future Frankie Goes to Hollywood singer) and went on to produce some of the first Bunnymen tracks. Space Flower is a guitar-pop album at heart and still sounds pretty fresh 36 years after it's original release.
Space Flower will be released as an individually numbered limited edition of 750 copies on purple vinyl and contains an insert.
Side A
1. Melting Blue Delicious
2. Butterfly Girl
3. Tangerine Temple
4. Immaculate
5. Space Flower
Side B
1. Chocolate Bubblegum
2. I’m A Lighthouse
3. Magic Hotel
4. Vanilla Melange
5. Sea Of Tranquility
