Overview

SWIZ WAS A WASHINGTON, D.C.-BASED hardcore punk band that existed from April of 1987 through August of 1990, cutting their teeth and carving their place in the scene that birthed trailblazers and contemporaries like Minor Threat, Bad Brains, Dag Nasty, Fugazi, Ian MacKaye, Dave Grohl, and Henry Rollins. Featuring original Dag Nasty singer Shawn Brown, Swiz's faster, darker, and more aggressive take on the D.C. sound ran counter to the melodic, experimental, and poppy direction the scene had been leaning toward in the years before Nirvana broke the underground. In the thirty-five years since their demise, Swiz's popularity and infamy have only grown. This first in-depth look into the band is timed perfectly to coincide with the 2025 release of their remastered musical catalog by Dischord Records. The volume is penned by all of the band members, combining historical interviews and personal journals, with present-day conversations, anecdotes, recollections, and reflections yielding new poetry and prose. The writing is complemented by over one hundred unpublished images. This mix of styles touches on band facts and timelines while also spotlighting the negative space around the band: personal and interpersonal moments of its members and the broader community and culture in which they were immersed. Swiz is a deep dive into the band and its members, a celebration of warped memory, and a unique snapshot of a time and scene that continues to inspire musicians, artists, and fans alike.

Full Product Details

9781636142654

Table of Contents

Reviews

Coinciding with the 2025 release of Swiz's remastered catalogue, this book brings all the members of the band together in conversation. Consisting of recollections and reflections in verse and prose, new conversations between members, tour notes, drawings, comics, and over 100 previously unreleased images, this uniquely compiled memoir gives readers insight into the band's history and experiences. The narrative thread fluidly shifts between band members, connecting their varied accounts of their experiences. Readers can choose to read each member's accounts separately or to read them together as interconnected stories that build upon and inform one another.-- ""Library Journal"" The members of D.C.-based punk band Swiz assemble a colorful and eclectic career retrospective . . . Veering from prose to poetry to comic strip, the sections combine to form . . . a passionate ode to hardcore punk's brief but intense moment in the spotlight and Swiz's role in it.-- ""Publishers Weekly"" Swiz blends oral history, scrapbook, and journal to chronicle the late 1980s Washington, D.C., hardcore punk band fronted by Shawn Brown, formerly of Dag Nasty. Packed with childhood and band photos, flyers, lyrics, journal excerpts, interviews, comics, poetry, and even a list of rejected band names, the book captures both the sound and the scene . . . Fans of hardcore punk will cherish this vivid, raw portrait of youth in full thrash.-- ""Booklist""

The members of D.C.-based punk band Swiz assemble a colorful and eclectic career retrospective . . . Veering from prose to poetry to comic strip, the sections combine to form . . . a passionate ode to hardcore punk's brief but intense moment in the spotlight and Swiz's role in it.-- ""Publishers Weekly""

Author Information

SWIZ was a hardcore punk band from Washington, D.C., bred in the fertile underground before Fugazi and Nirvana rose to popularity. The band's lineup featured vocalist Shawn Brown (formerly of Dag Nasty), bassist Nathan Larson, drummer Alex Daniels, guitarist Jason Farrell, and, in their early days, Ramsey Metalf (guitar). Their two albums were released by Amanda MacKaye's Sammich Records--sister label to Dischord Records. Larson was replaced by bassist Dave Eight in 1989 as Swiz continued to make a name for themselves across the US over their three-year run (1987-1990). Their short, sharp, sonic blasts still resonate and continue to inspire musicians, artists, and fans alike.

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