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Sep 10, 2009 By Kyle Lemmon Andrew Bird

Back in the day, or the early oughties, Andrew Bird had a capable backing band called Bowl of Fire. The Chicago group included Kevin O’Donnell, Nora O’Connor, Andy Hopkins, Jimmy Sutton, Colin Bunn and Ryan Hembrey. The band unofficially disbanded in 2003 but Bird’s first three LPs featured their genre-shifting talents. The nearly flawless and very underappreciated The Swimming Hour was their third and final effort as a unit. It’s also the album that spawned the live staple “Why?. Now Bird’s self-dubbed “jukebox album” is being re-released October 20th, via Ryko.

Fans can now listen to its zydeco, rock, folk, jazz, gospel, classical, and Latin charms (whew!) where originally Bowl of Fire played to criminally small clubs. The Swimming Hour will be the first time the album is released on vinyl. The “deluxe” 2xLP set includes a re-imagined cover, courtesy of Chicago poster artist Jay Ryan. The Bird Machine, Inc. screenprinter turned the photograph on the original cover into a attention-grabbing pop art illustration. Pre-order at Insound. Check out the tentative tracklisting below. (via MBV)

The Swimming Hour:

01 Two Way Action
02 Core and Rind
03 Why?
04 11:11
05 Case in Point
06 Too Long
07 Way Out West
08 Waiting to Talk
09 Fatal Flower Garden
10 Satisfied
11 Headsoak
12 How Indiscreet
13 Dear Old Greenland