Do you remember Lights’ 2008 album Rites (TMT Review)? Would you remember it better if the album title didn’t sound like the band name with a speech impediment? Better yet, would you keep better track of it if you could actually Google “Lights” with a little success? (Note: when I Googled “LIGHTS”, the number one hit was a Myspace for the band — but not the Brookyln girls I was looking for.)
Lights (from Brooklyn) just made things a little easier. Search the internet no more for common nouns — the trio has officially renamed itself Cliffie Swan, which assuredly will distinguish them from their aforementioned rivals in Canada. Drag City makes sure to point out that there is no animosity between (Canadian) Lights and Cliffie Swan — Linnea Vedder and Sophia Knapp both do yoga, the label states, which means that it’s physically impossible for them to harbor ill will towards anything.
In other Cliffie Swan news, the group (as Lights) contributed a cover of “As the World Falls Down” to the charity album We Were So Turned On: Tribute to David Bowie this fall, putting them one step away from the man himself (who approved the tribute). That’s pretty good, considering they won’t be releasing their second album until early 2011, under their new name.
• Cliffie Swan: http://www.dragcity.com/artists/cliffie-swan
• Drag City: http://www.dragcity.com
