SWMRS - Berekely's On Fire

1.    Who are they? 

SWMRS are a pop punk band from Oakland, California. 


2. What have they got?

Berkeley’s On Fire (Aug’18) is a standalone single at the moment. SWMRS are three albums deep. 


3. Who are SWMRS similar to? 

The Frights, FIDLAR, and WAAVES. 


4. What have the press said? 

“Social commentary wrapped in churning guitars” – Paste Magazine. 

“Vibrant song” – Alt Press. 

“Thundering drums and wailing guitars” – We Are The Guard. 

5. Which bands influenced SWMRS?

Some of SWMRS main influences are The Ramones, The Beach Boys, The Clash, Public Enemy, and Weezer. 

6. Why should I give Berkeley's On Fire a listen?

The song has a word to say about far-right politics, the propaganda machine and outrage culture. They aren’t in favor of any of them! And vitriol is the best sauce for cooking pop punk songs in. Berkeley's On Fire is angry and catchy (in a Beastie Boys Fight For Your Right To Party kind of way) in equal measure. 

7. What are SWMRS best songs? 

Figuring It Out and Miley are the best SWMRS bangers. 

8. Any more words? 

The drummer is Billie Joe Armstrong's (Green Day) son.

SWMRS- Hannah

1.    Who are the lads?

SWMRS are are a surf/pop/punk band from Oakland, California. Drive North (Feb'16) is their third album, albeit the first two came under the name Emily's Army. Hannah (Feb'16) is an album track that got a video in October.

2. What's this Hannah like then?

Like an indulgent Ramones song on Valium, banged out on a lazy Sunday with Pro Tools. Sleepy but catchy. The lyrics hit the spot. About indulgence. 

3. Who do SWMRS sound like? 

FIDLAR, The Ramones, Wavves, The Frights and Twin Peaks. 

4. What have the press said about Hannah? 

“A slow, dreamy song” – Cryptic Rock.

“A very odd song” – Rattle Mag.

“More mellow” – Michigan Daily.

5. Which bands have influenced SWMRS?

The Ramones, The Clash, The Beach Boys, Public Enemy and Weezer are a few of their influences.


6. Why should I give Hannah a lash? 

Because the lyrics are vaguely amusing and the tune doesn't suck balls.


7. Do SWMRS have any other notable efforts?

Sure they do! Figuring It Out is top of the pops, rocks as hard as a prison rapist's hard-on and has gang vocals. Miley is punk rock done proper. Proper, proper.


8. Any more words Bozo?

Drive North was produced by FIDLAR singer Zac Carper. 

“My eyes look like diamonds, the boys all be trying,

But those boys don’t understand me”

Havana 3 am were a British/American rockabilly band with a heavy Latino influence formed by The Clash bass player Paul Simonon. They recorded two long players from 1986 - 1996. Havana 3am's first self-titled album Havana 3am (1991) was the essential album that All Music said, "has a tense pumping energy.” Reach The Rock was a minor radio hit and the best tune on the album. The initial spaghetti-Western sound settles into a lovely ska bounce before cracking into a straight rock song. It's worthy.

“One bad move leads to another”

The Best Indie Songs of 2015 - SWMRS

SWMRS are a surf punk band with strong pop punk roots that sally forth from Oakland, California. They are related to punk royalty in that Billie Joe Armstrong, front man of Green Day, is the drummer's father. SWMRS have just finished a west coast tour doing fluffer duties for Wavves and Twin Peaks. 

The band got attention for their tribute to punk rock queen Miley Cyrus, Miley (Sept'15). The first single release from the bands third album, albeit first after a name change, is Figuring It Out (Nov'15). 

Figuring It Out  is their best work, a massive crowd singing, indie rock banger. Noisey Vice called Figuring It Out a “poppy foot-tapper filled with skate-gang vocals,” and Little Indie Blogs praised it's “propulsive energy and vibrant riffs.”

SWMRS broad influences are The Ramones, The Clash and The Beach Boys. More diverse influences include Public Enemy, A Tribe Called Quest, Pavement, Weezer, and Nirvana.

Broadway World said SWMRS music in general “combines the caustic broadsides of The Clash, the amphetamine bubblegum of the Ramones, and the searing lyrics, propulsive energy, and raw honesty of Public Enemy.” 

Inner Speaker Magazine had some good words for the new album Drive North saying it is “energetic, angry yet light-hearted” and “emotional, rebellious, and at times reflective.” Of the tune Figuring It Out the blogger Drink Cold Soda hit the nail on the head with the simple yet accurate “anthemic.”  

Throwing out the haymaker early doors massive ‘whoahs’ form the chorus and introduce the track in a hair on the back of the neck build up to quiet verses with a Ramones-eque delivery and lyrics describing a universal need to find your place in the world. The song pulls it all together for a bouncing off the walls rock out at the end. Figuring It Out rocks harder than a prison rapist coming and is one of the best indie songs of 2015

“We like getting drunk now

 Jimmy flunked out pants undone”

Shit you need to know:

The band released two albums and a string of short players as Emily’s Army before changing their name in 2015 reflecting a change in the bands musical direction from punk to a beach pop style.

Punk icon Billie Joe Armstrong produced all the Emily's Army albums.

The band are childhood friends who started making music in 2004 after watching School Of Rock.

Figuring It Out is the first single from the bands fourth album Drive North (Feb’16).

The album Drive North was produced by Fidlar vocalist Zac Carper.

The singer Cole Becker said Drive North is thematically about “cultivating your own creativity within the world that you live in and basking in your individual identity.”

Broadway World said Drive North is “suffused with coming of age jams, subversive anthems to Miley Cyrus, and a sense of freedom forged out of modern-day confusion.”

The band self-release their music on the label Uncool Records.

SWMRS have been described as a beach-punk band, a punk-rock band, a surf-punk-pop band and surf rockers.

The bands original name Emily's Army was in honor of Max's and Cole's cousin Emily, who suffers from Cystic Fibrosis.

SWMRS have toured the world on fluffer duties for bands like Rise Against, Soundgarden, Gerard's Way and Pennywise.

Other SWMRS songs to keep the party going strong are Ammonia and Bleach, Miley and Kids Just  Wanna Dance.

Sloppy seconds is courtesy of SWMRS tour mates Wavves. The San Diego indie rock band have a killer here with the second single from their fifth album V.  Don’t waste your time. Listen to Flamezesz (July’15).

“It’s suicidal hurt

The way you walk around”