A couple of weeks ago, I went up to Salt Lake City to catch Fireworks headlining a show at one of our local venues. It was probably one of the sparsest crowds I’ve ever seen at a local show (Big Boi and Chromeo were playing a free festival show only a few miles away) and needless to say, I felt awkward and out of place amongst the 20 or so teenage boys and girls standing around in their high worn beanies and looks of overall disinterest.

One of the opening bands that played that night were The Swellers. Despite the depressingly apathetic crowd that they staged in front, the band went up and played as if they were playing in front of a packed house, tearing through a set of soaring, classic pop-punk anthems. One song in particular “Do You Feel Better Yet?” immediately stuck out to me. A few days after the show, I picked up their latest album Ups and Downsizing. After listening through a few times, it’s clear the band’s intent is not to tread new territory or to fit in with any of today’s trends, but rather to take the listener back into a time and place where the scene wasn’t so blatantly cosmetic, something that had a very refreshing effect on me and one I think anyone who has similar feelings of discontentment with the way things are, should experience as well.

MP3 // Do You Feel Better Yet?

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