Release Date: 12th April 2025
Catalogue Number: MAPS4LP

Limited Edition Red Vinyl
Remastered and available officially for the first time in over 40 years.
This is a limited edition pressing for Record Store Day.
You will also receive a link to download digital WAV files of the album.

Swell Maps - The John Peel Sessions pressed on limited edition red vinyl for Record Store Day. Remastered and available officially for the first time in over 40 years.

Noisy, chaotic, and defiantly experimental, Swell Maps may not have found commercial success in their time, but their impact on music is undeniable. An inspiration to bands such as R.E.M., Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr., Pavement and Nirvana, with Kurt Cobain famously being a fan and often seen sporting a Swell Maps T-Shirt. A democracy within the confines of punk’s anything is possible, members Biggles Books, Jowe Head and brothers Nikki Sudden and Epic Soundtracks—helped shape the landscape of post-punk and DIY music. Now, for the first time in over 40 years, The John Peel Sessions brings together all three of their recordings for John Peel, a figure instrumental in championing their sound.

Formed in the early ’70s and fully realised by 1976, Swell Maps embodied the DIY ethos, launching their own label and self-releasing the jagged, frenetic debut single ‘Read About Seymour’ in 1978. Peel was an early supporter, playing their record as soon as it landed on his desk—a moment the band described as one of disbelief and elation. His regular airplay of their music helped solidify their cult status, and these sessions capture the raw energy, off-kilter melodies, and boundary-pushing creativity that defined them.

Compiled here for Record Store Day, The John Peel Sessions is a vital document of Swell Maps at their most unfiltered—three sessions of unpredictable, exhilarating noise.

Side A.

International Rescue - 16/10/78
Harmony in Your Bathroom - 16/10/78
Read About Seymour - 16/10/78
Another Song - 16/10/78
Full Moon / Blam!! / Full Moon (Reprise) - 16/10/78
Armadillo - 15/5/79
Vertical Slum / Forest Fire - 15/5/79

Side B.

Midget Submarines - 15/5/79
Bandits One Five - 15/5/79
Big Empty Field - 18/3/80
Bleep And Booster Come Round For Tea / Secret Island - 18/3/80
Let's Buy a Bridge - 18/3/80
Helicopter Spies / A Raincoat's Room - 18/3/80

Swell Maps

Swell Maps - The John Peel Sessions - Limited Edition Red Vinyl