[REVIEW] The Swellers – Good For Me

The Swellers

Good For Me

Fueled By Ramen Records

Release: June 14^th, 2011

Flint, Michigan’s favorite blue-collar punk heroes, The Swellers, are back again to release yet another solid record.  The band has grown quite a bit since the release of Ups and Downsizing.  They have been on very large US tours with the likes of Paramore and Motion City Soundtrack and have built their own steady fan base across the nation.  With all the success in the past year, I was very excited to see where this hardworking 4-piece would take their musical direction to next.

It is quite evident throughout the release, that the band is aware of their strengths.  They are very good at ripping through fast paced verses before pulling you in with the large sounding choruses that tend to be incredibly catchy, especially with the powerful vocals of Nick Diener.  The opener “Runaways” is a great tune to set the tone of the album.  It is a very contagious song that gets the hook implanted in your brain in no time.  “Waiting for you to decide/ Let’s leave and be runaways tonight.”  The beginning of the album hits you with a quick 1-2 punch because “Inside My Head” is no sleeper either.  The song reminds me of old school Foo Fighter albums and Diener almost sounds like Grohl on the certain lines of the song.

The first single for the album, “The Best I Ever Had”, can be found at the halfway point of the album.  The song starts off with a solo electric guitar strumming along while Diener shows off his impressive pipes before the drum beat kicks in.  When the full band appears, the song is lead by fast paced palm mutes that are set to trigger circle pits at the Warped Tour.   The catchiness of the song, along with the lyrical content makes this the perfect summer punk song.

“Better Things” is sure to be a favorite for many fans of The Swellers.  It is a great positive track about moving on to bigger and better things and getting away from the people who might be holding you back from your goals.  The acoustic guitar played during the verses sets the rhythm to one of the best songs the band has ever written.

The closer of the album,“ Warming Up”, seems very fitting to be put in the last slot.  The power of the song, with the humming back up vocals found during the hook really draws the listener in.  There is also a phenomenal extended guitar solo in this track before Diener brings the album title into the lyrics when he belts out, “You’re good for me, yeah you’re good for me.”  Any fan of the pop punk genre would agree that Good For Me is actually good for all of us.  The Swellers are what all bands wish they could be, consistent.

Review By Chris Bongiovanni