The current state of punk rock could be compared to a virus that survived a full course of antibiotics: Its numbers are small, but it is strong and coming back with a vengeance. Bands like WAVVES, Fidlar, Twin Peaks, and now SWMRS (pronounced “swimmers”) are keeping punk rock a healthy virus amongst the deluge of often shallow, self-indulgent, and overproduced creations of a mutated organism called mainstream music.
SWMRS consists of brothers Cole (vox/guitar) and Max Becker (bass/vox), Joey Armstrong (drums), and Sebastian Mueller (guitar/vox). The band formed in 2004, but in 2015 they added Seth Muller to the band and had a breakthrough year; they toured with Wavves and Twin Peaks, played huge shows at Beach Goth Festival and Burgerama IV, and will release their third album — but the first under the acronym SWMRS — Drive North, February 12. I spoke with vocalist and guitarist, Cole Becker earlier this week to see what these smoking guns are all about.
So what was it like working with Joey’s dad, Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day? It was pretty cool; he’s more like a father figure to us. So it’s like working with one of our dads.