The Swellers – “Running Out of Places To Go”
Entering the second decade of the band’s life and beginning a new chapter apart from Fueled By Ramen, Flint punks The Swellers are proving that even in punk, age is just a number.
It seems the larger world is starting to take more notice as well. Though a favorite of many in the scene and a one-time labelmate of chart-toppers Fun. and Paramore, the band’s following remained relatively small, though exceedingly passionate.
The most recent single, which shares a title with the EP, was debuted Nov. 2 on Rolling Stone, and along with the shakeup of leaving the label, heads are being turned.
When these ears turn toward them, these new songs they’ll be hearing are five of the best The Swellers have released yet.
Opener “Hands” is a quick convertor of any who aren’t yet fans, with earnest, low-key verses that lend well to a chorus abetted by a brief guitar that sounds almost soulful. That’s before a short guitar solo sends the machine into overdrive.
The four songs that follow work to similar effect. At times a little structure change-up or a more riff-thirsty guitar would serve well; despite this, the band is adept at interspersing songs with little extra tastes of a certain aspect that add just a bit of needed zest—that “Oh, I liked that!” factor.
Whether it be the standout, tongue-in-cheek titled “Bad For Me” or the Rolling Stone single that sticks, listeners will find at least a few songs here to love. The Swellers may not be the new kids on the block, but they’ve been filled with new life and new fodder for some wonderfully angry punk.