I write about random things a lot. I write a lot about random things. Did you know that The Who's Pete Townsend first started doing his signature windmill move on stage thinking he was stealing it from Keith Richards? Then called The Detours, The Who opened for the Rolling Stones in late 1963.

A lot has changed in rock and roll. "There's never going to be a Beatles again, or a Rolling Stones again, because there's just so much music now," posited Scott Stanton, of the band Current Swell, in conversation by telephone from B.C. "My friend and I were talking about it the other day, thinking, 'I wonder what people are going to think when they look back at the 2010s.' There's just so much music now, there's no '80s sound anymore, no 2000s sound. Or maybe it's auto—tune."

Stanton jokes because Current Swell has been at the centre of an odd labelling conflict that began when they formed. Rising out of a love of life and surf, Stanton formed the band with friend Dave Lang roughly five years ago. A simple, natural musical brotherhood followed, with friends eager to round out the lineup.

The band — guitarists Stanton and Lang, drummer Chris "Crispy" Petersen and bassist Aaron "Ghosty" Wright — have been dodging labels ever since they first took the stage together, commonly christened surf rock. Despite their diverse albums, featuring a range of blues, reggae, rock and country songs, the brand stuck with them.

"There was one point where we actually fought it," Stanton recalled, but pointed out that his band has long learned to let the music do the talking. "It's just one of those things we now accept. If you want to call us surf rock, then that's awesome. And if you want to call us something else, that's awesome too."

Current Swell is back on the road again, travelling across Canada in support of their new album Long Time Ago, released on October 25. The album shines with a rootsy finish, one born of introspection and care, and they're bringing it to London for a performance at London Music Hall with Michou and The Ascot Royals on November 25.

But the album's overall sound and tone were no accident. "When we started the record, we had a lot of really good reggae songs, and a lot of heavy bluesy songs, but when we sat down we just really wanted to make a cohesive record," Stanton explained.

"We've found that our albums in the past have jumped all over the map a little bit; I'm an album guy, I love listening to records from front to back, I always have. So we recorded 25 songs to demo, and when we sat and listened, there were four or five that really stuck out, that everyone seemed to agree had to be on the album. Then we pretty much based the feel of the record off of those four songs."

"We've never put a direction in front of our band," Stanton stated proudly. "But we just realized over the course of recording that this album is very much about people — we nearly called the album People Not Places instead of Long Time Ago."

That conscious effort invested in the album makes it feel very much like a triumph, a finished work as good individually as the sum of its parts, and makes for a great listen.

For more information on Current Swell, visit them online at currentswell. com or follow them on Twitter @currentswell. Their gig with Michou, The Ascot Royals and Play Oliver is on November 25 in the lounge at London Music Hall. Doors open at 8 p.m. and tickets are $10, available in advance at D—Tox Clothing in White Oaks Mall, downtown at Grooves Records and Tequila Rose and online at ticketscene.ca.

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