On Friday, Bay Area punks Swmrs released their third album, Berkeleys On Fire. Its a savagely political slice of pop-leaning punk music on which the band assesses the world in which theyre coming of age. Single Trashbag Baby is a scorching piece of grunge-y power-pop that serves as the albums biggest highlight.
After the infectious riff settles, brothers Max and Cole Becker trade off vocal duties, letting their distinctive sound bounce off each other like a fast-paced conversation. The conversation theyre having is about baggage; the boys lament a girl whos unloading some excess emotional cargo at their expense (Im sick of being your trashbag, baby, wanna see you fall down/I cant wait until youre not around). The chorus is bleeding with energy, building until its impossible not to imagine yourself belting along and thrashing across the floor of any venue as the band powers through it. The way the brothers scream-whine the songs title is enough on its own to get your body moving, in the pit or not.