Earlier this year, trapped in what felt like perpetual quarantine, we connected with Los Angeles’ Swerve and their rousing single “Escape”, drawn in by a sound that seemed to pull as much from brash Britpop and Cool Britannia as it did from ’90s American alt-rock. While the nods across the Atlantic as are always acknowledged and appreciated, the band has now unleashed a punchy new single in “Ruin Your Day” that takes care of some much-needed housekeeping back here in the states.
“Ruin Your Day” is the title track and final pre-release single before Swerve drops their debut album this Friday (August 13), and it was inspired by witnessing hate groups congregating and causing a scene around Los Angeles. Yes, the day-ruining here is very intentional and direct.
“‘Ruin Your Day’ was one of the first songs we recorded for the album and it really set the tone for the rest of the songs both sonically and thematically, which is one of the reasons we named the record after it,” says Swerve’s Gregory Mahdesian. “It’s a guitar heavy, political, psychedelic punk love song about sticking together with your partner while the world throws crazy shit at you. We wrote it after [a known hate group] and other misogynistic thugs caused havoc at LA bars. We were upset — this is our city, not theirs, and this became a fantasy about making sure they had a miserable experience, of standing alongside your person and ruining those guys’ day. I wouldn’t call it peaceful, but it is a love song!”
Mahdesian adds: “I don’t know if we’ve ever had a song come together so quickly. The louder and faster it got, the better it sounded, and we went really wild in the instrumental breakdown with feedback and weird guitar parts while the bass and drums hold it down. I think it was the first time I ever shouted on a recording, too. It’s one of the most fun songs to play live and it doesn’t take itself too seriously. It’s a dark but good time.”
We know band comparisons are the laziest forms of music journalism, but we can’t help but point out that “Ruin Your Day” lines up nicely with some of the classics from Ash, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, and Manic Street Preachers. After the album drops this Friday, Swerve play a hometown record release show August 21 at Apogee Studios in Santa Monica. Details on the flyer after the jump; RSVP here.
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