Gig Review: The Swellers at Liverpool’s Carling Academy

May 5 2010 by Ben Coulbeck, Chester Chronicle

THE SWELLERS/Liverpool Academy, 30.4.05

REVIEW/by Ben Coulbeck

ARRIVING on the crest of a transatlantic wave, punk band The Swellers headlined a night of emerging bands at Liverpool’s Carling Academy on Friday (April 30).

The relentless four-piece, led by brothers Nick and Jonathan Diener, are bouncing around the country as part of the Give It A Name Introduces tour which is showcasing some of the best emerging American and British bands of the moment.

But with less than 100 people attending the gig, they have some way to go before they are heard by the masses.

Headline act The Swellers, from Flint Michigan, lived up to their aggressive reputation with an energetic performance of punk pop melodies inspired by life back home in Flint, near Detroit.

Songs taken from their acclaimed debut album Ups and Downsizing were largely appreciated by the sparse crowd although previous reviews comparing The Swellers to punk rock legends Green Day are somewhat sensational.

Good they are but great, certainly not yet.

Stealing the show though were fellow Americans Anarbor who wooed onlookers with a funky original set, with certain numbers akin to that of Fall Out Boy.

Fronted by confident bassist Slade Echeverria, who won many fans by admitting his enjoyment of drugs, beer and girls, Phoenix quartet Anarbor would have walked the event had it been a battle of the bands contest.

Also featuring on the bill were Maryland soft rock act The Dangerous Summer, Rio and The Wild from Atlanta.

While these young and promising bands from ‘across the pond’ may be enjoying huge success on American soil, they are yet to command a loyal army of followers on Merseyside.