Los Angeles’ Swerve are releasing their highly-anticipated The Darkroom EP tomorrow. Following up their well-received debut LP Ruin Your Day (2021), the band has refocused and, if not evolved, maybe found a new perspective on making their music.
Today TGEFM is mighty chuffed to premiere a new single and video from that EP, “23.” Why 23? You might ask? Well, it’s not because Millencolin did “22” (or, at least, I think not), but instead…
“23″ is just fun for us. From the writing of it, to the recording, to the music video, it kind of really defined our point of view for the entire EP. I mean, it’s dark if you take it seriously, but don’t take it too seriously- just go with it. It references a lot of experiences in our lives- from hotel parties to failed ambitions to just generally living irresponsibly for a while before realizing “whoops, maybe that didn’t pay off!” The key thing for this track, and the whole EP I think, is the idea that it’s all been worth experiencing. Obviously life doesn’t end at 23, but when you’re 23 it feels like it might, and that might inspire you to act kinda stupidly.
Ryan brought the idea of this song- the main riff, concept of the lyrics, and some of the melody. We workshopped it together. We kind of have an unwritten rule- who started the song? The other person gets to play the guitar solo, so I played this one and had a great time with it. Ryan will argue that his work on “All I Can Say” (also from this EP) is the superior performance, though.
In general, we’re heading in a looser direction, and I think “23” was the one that pushed us there.
Greg Mahdesian
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the white drew carey (aka – Jeff Sorley) is the founder and head editor of TGEFM. He’s lived (outside of) Chicago, Madison WI, (ugh) Penn State, Lyon FR, Oxford UK, central New Jersey, and now within earshot of SFO in the Bay Area. When not scouring the web for more great bands and labels to post about, he also spends time drawing (mostly) silly sci-fi and anime stuff under the name Asplenia Studios.
