The Swellers

Stuck somewhere between the pop punk grit of the Lawrence Arms and the sheen of New Found Glory, the Swellers’ My Everest is a good listen if you’re in the mood for some Fat-sounding near-mall punk. While opener "Vehicle City” hints at a band capable of the same speedy catchiness of aggressive pop punks like A Wilhelm Scream, the song’s chorus kicks in with the sure feeling that, unlike A Wilhelm Scream, these boys’ record collections had more MXPX than Deicide. Still, to dismiss the Swellers as simple mall punk would discount the late-era Propagandhi-style chord structures found on songs like "The Flood” and "Skoots.” Just when you think you’ve got the band pegged though they go and write a song that sounds exactly like the last No Use For A Name record. A little uneven, My Everest still succeeds in refusing to be pigeonholed on one side of the pop punk coin.