Swab – Big City

Melbourne, a city of five million people and the capital of the southeastern Australian state of Victoria, was ranked the happiest city in the world just before the global pandemic hit. No wonder so many American and European punks are moving there these days. While the distant country with some of the world’s strictest lockdowns is still reeling from the effects of the pandemic to this day, the big city of Melbourne has continued to produce some excellent hardcore punk, crust and grindcore bands to check out, at least from what I’ve heard lately.

I would love to see a scene report on the amazing scene in Melbourne, but one band that really stood out for me this year and defied all my expectations was Swab. If you’re looking for infectiously catchy punk rock with sardonic lyrics and rapid-fire drum fills, this band will fucking rule your world! Hell yeah, I’m not exaggerating, this band really is awesome. The band consists of Christina Pap and Jo Coone, formerly of the American hardcore punk band Vanilla Poppers from Cleveland, Ohio, and Australian legend Jake Robertson, aka Alien Nose Job.

Following on previously released demo tape and Small World 7-inch, Big City is the debut LP from this amazing band. The record grabs you by the throat with the raving mad five-second guitar lead on “Fun No More”, before exploding into a pummeling blend of punk rock and old school hardcore (think of bands like Gang Green, Jerry’s Kids and Zero Boys, some of them even properly tributed on their 7-inch) that doesn’t let you take a slightest grasp of breath in the remaining 18 or so minutes. The band plays RIDICULOUSLY fast and snappy, without ever going into a metal territory. 

Melbourne might be around ten thousand miles from Cleveland, yet Christina’s vocals are not a million miles away from her vocal delivery in Vanilla Poppers, and yet she is incredibly pissed off and unorthodox in her screams on this record. The press release and some reviewers compare her vocals to Chitose of the cult Japanese band The Comes and I couldn’t agree more. The lyrics are taking on the more sarcastic and nihilistic side of the genre, with song titles like “A Real Punk”, “Pills In My Mouth”, “Hippies Still Exist (And I Hate Them)”, and “Cool Life”. The breakneck bass lines sound as frantic as the raging and chaotic drum fills, while the guitar riffs are pushing the music along much like the Tasmanian Devil’s tornado-like frenzy knocking down everything in his path in the popular animation. In conclusion, this is the fastest, sloppiest and energetic punk rock record of the year. Really incredible stuff.