Song of the Day: SWMRS - Drive North

Every Monday through Friday, we deliver a different song as part of our Song of the Day podcast subscription. This podcast features exclusive KEXP in-studio performances, unreleased songs, and recordings from independent artists that our DJs think you should hear. Today’s song, featured on the Morning Show with John Richards, comes from Oakland punk band SWMRS. "Drive North" is the title track and closer of their debut studio album, self-released on Uncool Records.

SWMRS - Drive North(MP3)

Cole and Max Becker are the kind of crazy kids that make you question what you've done with your life thus far. When their first album as Emily's Army came out back in 2011, Cole was 15. Since then, they've dropped another full length, and then completely reframed the band, this time named SWMRS, and hailing the rock sound of the western coast, stripped of unnecessary frills and brought to full volume. The brothers are joined by Seb Meuller on the bass and Joey Armstrong on the drums. Joey's dad, one Billie Joe, produced both of the Emily's Army records, but with SWMRS debut Drive North, the band has chosen FIDLAR frontman Zac Carper to take the wheel. Carper's influence is easily felt and well appreciated - the final product of Drive North is easily the best thing the quartet has put together thus far. And with the live experience they've had from such a young age, they are bound to be a formidable act in the west coast punk scene, and they're hilarious to boot.

"Drive North" (the song) closes the record with a brutal, biting statement of a west coast jam. While the album opens with the "let's cut loose and hang out tonight" bounce of "Harry Dean", it closes with "Drive North" and its incessant screaming of "I hate Los Angeles". It's not just LA that gets the spittle either - it's the whole mess of tourist traps and celebrity sitings and fake garbage. The guys give only one piece of advice in response: drive north. Once you hit Oakland, it's a different world. The pop-driven punk sound that thrives throughout Drive North doesn't just beckon you to the city - it begs you to be honest about it. The driving, crunchy chords are pure ecstasy in their rough and tumble messiness. It's one hell of a way to go out on your first outing as a new band, and SWMRS aren't afraid to take the heat for it.

Grab "Drive North" above and check out the rest of the SWMRS debut of the same name, out now on their own label, Uncool Records. Look for a full list of tour dates throughout Europe, Canada, and the East Coast over at the SWMRS website and Facebook page. For now, check out their recent video for "Figuring It Out", another song from the new album.