The Swellers’ sixth release, Running Out Of Places To Go, demonstrates that the Flint, Michigan quartet have found their sound. They began as a Punk band, playing fast and hating everything (End Of Discussion); then they discovered the hook, and began to widen their audience (Beginning Of The End Again). After polishing down having one hook in a song (My Everest), The Swellers started piling the hooks down to keep the fans coming (Ups And Downsizing). On their 2011 release, they figured out how to create full songs of straight hooks and emotion (Good For Me). Now, a year after releasing their best record, The Swellers show that they’re still not complacent with their sound.
Hands opens as the song that should’ve been on Good For Me, but wasn’t. Here, The Swellers’ greatest strength is the restraint they show on the first chorus. The listener surely will expect a heavy-hitter to sing along to right away, but the good ol’ Flint boys keep that card hidden until halfway through the song where the guitars crush down. The solo spices things up and gives a nod to the earlier days of guitar work that they had, but The Swellers’ never forget that it’s the song that comes first, not just flashy guitar-work.
Bad For Me reveals the dichotomy of their last record that didn’t seem to be extremely prevalent. While Good For Me showcased all the good points of life, The Swellers are aware that not everything is sunshine and rainbows. Sometimes, the worst parts of life are the people that leave us. Singer Nick Diener knows that from the onset: “I woke up in this bed / alone but I’m okay / and I’ll remember that. / And this will never keep me down / yeah, I’ll remember that". Even when loneliness is at its greatest at the vulnerable time right after waking up do The Swellers seem to know that everything will be okay in the end.
Closing the EP is the eponymous track Running Out Of Places To Go. Starting off slowly with a crashing intro and soft verse, the song works at a great pace. Introspective, diffident, and self-aware, The Swellers are on top of the world and at the bottom of the ocean at the same time. They’re ecstatic to being doing what makes them happy for a living, but they’re down and out because they’re always working to do it. But the often-generic-but-now-fitting-and-extremely-well-done ending shows the gratitude the band will always have for everyone that helped them: “I miss my bed but I can’t remember / how it feels compared / to yours or any other / but thank you for letting me into your home (when I was running out of places to go)".
Running Out Of Places To Go might have relevance in regards to their sleeping arrangements for the nights on tours, but it sure has nothing to do with where they’re looking for their sound to evolve.
Tracklist:
1. Hands
2. Let Me In
3. Bad For Me
4. Making Waves
5. Running Out Of Places To Go
Rating:
Written by Joe Wasserman
