Muah!I was completely unprepared for the high voltage rockin' that was waiting for me on the other side of this link to SWAK's mySpace page. For me, if anyone uses the phrase "SWAK", or "sealed with a kiss", my mind immediately leaps to that 60's hit performed by Brian Hyland of the same title. So I was daydreaming with the lonely summer ballad, waiting for SWAK's page to load, and suddenly the first track on their music player starts up and it sucker punches me in the face with a fistful of bad-ass. It was like a wake-up call telling me to kick my sappy music aside and to get my shit together.
That's probably what Syd, Pete and Julian did when they got together in the last month of 2008 to form SWAK. Now after just six months, they've left their New York City home with a handful of strong demos to embark on a DIY tour of the States. Why more people haven't taken notice is beyond me. They're pretty hard to miss with the wailing vocals and speeding guitars, all heavy on the distortion.
SWAK is a much needed reminder of what American punk music is in its most classic context. None of that guyliner-induced so-called music that kids seem to think is "punk" these days. That's not punk! SWAK is punk.
SWAK - Head In the Sand (Stand Up) (mp3)
SWAK - Scream (mp3)
And just as a sidenote, I can totally imagine myself rockin' out to Head in the Sand (Stand Up) on a little plastic guitar in front of a TV screen, via Guitar Hero. That song is absolutely perfect for the game.
Again, they're on a DIY tour around the US, so catch 'em if you can. They're still looking to book a couple of venues in some of the cities that they're visiting and are open for suggestions, so head over to their mySpace for the dates.
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1 comment:
psh, what a bunch of sellouts. i remember i used to like them before anybody knew them,
then they got all big and cocky and started playign shows with like, more than five people there.
pshhh
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