Post 5c: CONTEMPORARY REVIEW: Drive North - SWMRS

Contemporary Review: Drive North - SWMRS

8.6/10, Listen Immediately

Background: SWMRS are a California punk/grunge/pop band that have been gaining popularity in the indie and punk scene for a while now. They have released a half dozen or so projects under a variety of aliases and this is their first project under the name of SWMRS. As painfully un-cool as possible, a large portion of their initial success can be owed to drummer Joey Armstrong's father, Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong. Armstrong produced nearly all of the band's early work, and as not-punk as it is to say that daddy produced your first few records, you can't blame them for utilizing a connection to one of modern punk's biggest icons. While still discussing influences, it is important to mention the bands that are responsible for SWMRS. One influence is certainly Green Day, but also, to my ears, The Ramones. Frontman Cole Becker's vocals sound like a squealing, teenage impression of Joey Ramone's voice and the group's integration of beach music/50s girl group style melodies feels very similar to the bubblegum influences The Ramones melded into their sound. Other major influences include the surf punk band and touring partners Wavves (whose breakout album's cover is currently my lock screen), the hardcore/surf punk band FIDLAR (this record is produced by singer Zac Carper) and as with any punk band since the grunge era, Nirvana. 

Review: This is an album obviously designed to be a breakout for SWMRS. It features their first obviously made for radio track, "Figuring It Out," and while it is not one of my favorite tracks, it is certainly a solid radio song. The production is less lo-fi than in the past, and the songs are designed for maximum energy delivered with maximum hooks in as short of a time as possible. A much better piece of pop than the cheesy "Figuring It Out" is the sunny "Turn Up." This brilliant little slice of California sunshine is sung by lead guitarist Max Becker. While the "other" Becker certainly does not have the strangled voice of his brother, he does have an incredibly simple way with melody. This song is incredibly infectious, with an easy to follow melody and a pleasant tone. The song also features a neat production trick in the beginning, with the song beginning as barely a whisper and then building in volume until hitting the first chorus, where it then hits full loudness. There is nothing about this song that doesn't inspire foot tapping, grinning, sing-a-long happiness. 

Many of these songs have been part of the band's live catalogue for months before the release of the album. When I caught the band opening for Wavves (with Twin Peaks) in LA, their superb show included nearly every song from this album. Many of these songs have also been featured on previous, smaller SWMRS releases, albeit in slightly different forms. One such song, my favorite from the album, is "Silver Bullet." This song has remained compositionally identical to its previous sketch, but with added details and enhancements. Every small change to the song is perfectly done and necessary to the better, newer song. Another song that gets a similarly great treatment is the opener "Harry Dean." This song's length is cut by about fifteen minutes and is streamlined considerably in terms of raw speed. It would have certainly been a ballsy move to open their big mainstream record with the full 17 minute original, but it is for the better that they skimmed it down. The hook is better, the production is better, and the song is overall a much better listen due to the shortened length. While "Silver Bullet" is expanded through the addition of vocal embellishments and extra instrumentation, "Harry Dean" is quite the opposite. "Harry Dean" rids itself of needless instrumentation  and detours and gains a huge amount of focus on the catchy hook and energetic instrumental. The new scream that opens the track sounds much better than the previous intro, but I wish they had found a way to keep the clapping that accompanied the drums on the original, some of the bending country influenced guitars, and the bass' high mixing. Still these are very minor complaints and would actually sound out of place on the new version, minus the loud bass guitar. Both songs are two of the best not only on the album, but of SWMRS' career, strengthened by smart decision making and sensibility. I would have liked to see reworked versions of a few more of their early songs, such as the surf rock number "Tito, Don't Give Me The Stink Eye," the catchy, depressed, "Dancing On My Own," and "Goodbye Mrs. Hemingway," which sounds exactly like it was written by The Strokes, if The Strokes didn't proceed to drive off a sonic and creative cliff after their Earth shatteringly impressive debut album. 

Production-wise, this album is very reminiscent of FIDLAR's 2015 release, Too. Both albums featured the same producer, so this conclusion makes a great deal of sense, logically. Particularly present here is the use of glitchy, electronic twists. These can be seen prominently on the drums of the song "Uncool." These drums are soaked in fuzz and static, leading them to sound as if they are playing through broken or peaking speakers. The drums on this song are a powerhouse, with Armstrong doing his most intricate playing of the album. The whole album features an abundance of complicated surf/punk drumming, but here his talents are on full display. It is a shame that his drums are so heavily distorted, as they nearly mask some brilliant playing. The drums kick up another notch for the song's explosive' cathartic ending, and Armstrong really goes for it on the cymbals. Here, the distortion actually benefits the drumming as it leads to a nearly palpable wall of crashing and sound as Becker moans "I just wanna be uncool" while the rest of the band screams the words behind him. This distorted effect can also be seen on the skittering opening for "Harry Dean" and the hip hop influenced ballad "Hannah." This effect is somewhat interesting, but is slightly over used on the album, while on Too it was used with more scarcity and to greater effect, such as during the horrifyingly dark "Overdose." Aside from that, the instrumentals are punchy and loud, and excellently mixed. Carper has always had a good ear for mixing/mastering drums and distorted punk guitar but this is the first time he's ever buried the bass playing underneath some of the other instruments. Bassist Seb Mueller is certainly no Thundercat but the boy is still a talented musician (and has a hilarious Twitter account) and deserves to have his aggressive playing placed equally with Armstrong's complex playing and Becker's yelping vocals. 

Many of the songs here, while not as immediately impressive as others, are saved by their hooks and melodies as well as their songwriting. One sterling example of this is "Hannah," which features #relatable lyrics about being an quirky, outsider teenage girl. Cringy lyrics about smoking weed, hating math class, and not being understood abound here (all three are topics that can be handled skillfully), along with a relatively tame instrumental make for a bad song; yet the song is saved by the incredibly catchy melody. The lyrics are actually passable and the instrumental seems fitting when taken in the context of the bubblegum pink melody. "D'You Have a Car" makes a glaring, painful error in its guitar tone, which comes off as flat, especially compared to the absolutely bone shattering heaviness of the previous track "Miley." This song would have benefited heavily from some thicker guitars during the outbursts in the verses. Despite that, this is still one of the better songs on the album. Becker's vocals and the songwriting are truly the stars here. The melody is catchy and the vocal performance is strongly emotional, especially at the end when Becker breaks out his pained, blood-curdling scream for a few repetitions of the chorus. The tense chord changes also help to highlight the emotions present here, those being a desperate cry for freedom on the road that nearly any teenager can relate to. 

Despite the sunny pop melodies of tracks like "Turn Up" and "Hannah" there is no doubt that SWMRS can function at full capacity as a punk/grunge band. As previously mentioned, the new "Harry Dean" is a blistering punk affair. "Miley," a hilariously genuine and fun tribute to Miley Cyrus, is an absolute banger, although a little too stylistically similar to Nirvana's "Heart Shaped Box" for me to completely fawn over this track. This track features a quiet, subdued verse defending the wonders of Mrs. Cyrus until the instruments drop out before the chorus. Suddenly, the whole band roars to life and the song mutates into a grungy anthem, strongly reminiscent of the aforementioned Nirvana song. The snares hit like gun shots and the guitar and bass are astoundingly loud, as are the passionate yelled vocals. The melodies as the song structure on this tracks are established classics. The closer, "Drive North" is perhaps the band's most convincing statement of surf punk cred. An anthem dedicated to slandering Los Angeles, this song features a beautifully succinct chorus: "I Hate Los Angeles" repeated ad infinitum, yet the rest of the band is yelling something that intentionally sounds like a mix of "I Love LA" and "I Hate LA." This song was particularly powerful live, convincing to the point that it had an entire crowd of LA born and bred punks/hipsters screaming along with the song's anti SoCal ethos. 

As far as I am concerned, this is SWMRS debut album. Not to undermine their previous efforts, but this is their first project that is being widely distributed and streamed, with songs that are getting radio play. Touring with an indie (and personal) favorite like Wavves has done wonders for their name recognition and this album truly feels like the band is breaking from being some unknown local band to a band on the verge of breaking into the realm of relative mainstream consciousness. I would be willing to bet the next album from these boys will be the one that gets them the Pitchfork review, the big single, and the headlining spots. These guys are on the verge of something big, something important. They are a group of talented, funny, and passionate young men and those three things will pay off in terms of success in music. They have done all the hard work like getting noticed and making the music and now it is time for them to fine tune a few of their mistakes and shoot for the big time. They may not have gotten the Pitchfork review (which probably would have brushed them off as derivative or juvenile without any major consideration or even a full listen of the album), but they are getting a positive review from me. I believe in these guys, and you should too. 

HIGHPOINTS: "Harry Dean" "Turn Up" "Uncool" "Miley" "D'You Have a Car?" "Hannah" "Silver Bullet" "Drive North" "Brb" "Miss Yer Kiss" 

LOWPOINTS: "Ruining My Pretending"

RECOMMENDED ALBUMS: King of The Beach - Wavves, Weezer - Weezer, FIDLAR - FIDLAR, Dookie - Green Day, Living In Darkness - Agent Orange, The Ramones - The Ramones, Here and Nowhere Else - Cloud Nothings (one of my all time favorites), Royal Headache - Royal Headache (another all time favorite).