Berkeley's On Fire

Determined to create something new within the rock genre, SWMRS collaborated with envelope-pushing producer Rich Costey (MUSE, Death Cab for Cutie) for two months in the Spring of 2018 for an exercise in grand experimentation. Inspired in equal parts by The Breeders, Rage Against The Machine, and De La Soul, the sonic diversity of the album is indicative of a generation reared on streaming services. SWMRS make music the way they consume it, jumping easily from pop rock to breakbeat-infused rock to emo punk, and jangly power pop. "When we were writing these songs we were very conscious of our role in creating a space for people to escape from the nonstop negative media cycle," shared co-frontman Cole Becker on the album's lyrical content. "It's a strange time to be young; our generation knows the duality of feeling like an unstoppable force for change in one moment and a powerless wreck in the next. We wanted these songs to document that feeling that we've observed closely in ourselves and in the people we've shared our music with over the past three years."