Review Summary: Thank you for letting me into your home, I was running out of places to go.
The Swellers are a band I tend not to hear about too much. Which is interesting to me, seeing as I think they're much better than most Pop-Punk bands today. The Swellers have been around for 10 years now, and have 5 albums under their belt. End Of Discussion was self-released and didn't garner much attention. My Everest was the bands next full length record, under Search and Rescue Records. Following the success of My Everest, the band released Ups and Downsizing on Fueled By Ramen, and one of my favorite records. 2 years later the band released Good For Me, an album that I thought was a misstep. The pace was slower, the music more boring, and the lyrics not quite as deep as before. Now here they are. After leaving Fueled By Ramen, The Swellers recorded an EP by the name of Running Out of Places to Go.
The EP kicks off with 'Hands'. This song represents exactly what The Swellers are about. Moderate paced Pop-Punk with deep and meaningful lyrics, and vocals that are wonderfully ranged for the genre they're in. The song is a fantastic way to start off the EP, and clocking in at just under 3 minutes, is one of the shortest songs on the EP. 'Let Me In' is another fantastic song, highly reminiscent of the Ups and Downsizing album. Nick and Johnathon Diener create a 1-2 punch in the vocal department, mixing harmonies with range. The next song 'Bad For Me', is an obvious reference to the song 'Warming Up' off of Good For Me. Again, this song reminds me of something that would be on Ups and Downsizing quite a bit, but that's by no means a bad thing. The lyrics are about a girl but still remain as deep as the other vocal themes on the EP. The "Ooh's" are a great addition to the song as well.
'Making Waves' is the shortest song on the album, but the worst in my opinion. The verses are good enough, but the chorus seems somewhat rushed and boring. Almost generic in a way. Not to say the song is bad, but just the worst on the EP. However, the title track is probably the best on the album. In the way 'Dirt' from Ups and Downsizing reflected on death and what comes after, 'Running Out of Places to Go' is a retrospect on the past few years for the band. And the final minute of this song is some of the most honest, and awesome Pop-Punk I've heard in a while.
The Swellers are back, whether you liked Good For Me or not, this EP is worth a shot to all Pop-Punk fans.
