SWMRS

SWMRS (formerly Emily's Army), pronounced 'swimmers', are an American punk rock band formed in Piedmont, California in 2004 by Cole Becker and Joey Armstrong, with Becker's brother Max Becker joining only a few weeks afterwards. They drew on a mix of influences ranging from the Beach Boys to the Ramones to create their own brand of rock. The band added Travis Neumann in 2009, who later left in 2014 due to creative differences. The band released a demo and a string of EPs from 2008 to 2010. The band released their first album, Don't Be a Dick, on June 14, 2011. The band's second album, Lost at Seventeen, was released on June 11, 2013. They added Sebastian Mueller as the bassist in 2014. The band's third studio album, and their first under the name SWMRS after dropping their former name, Drive North, was released February 12, 2016, via Uncool Records. Drive North was later re-released after the band was signed to record label Fueled by Ramen on October 13, 2016. History The band was formed by Cole Becker and Joey Armstrong after watching School of Rock together in school. Becker's brother, Max Becker, later joined the band to play bass. The band was originally named the Raining Souls, but they briefly changed to the Clocks. After realizing there were already many bands with the same name, they changed it to Emily's Army in honor to Becker's cousin Emily, who suffers from cystic fibrosis and was diagnosed in 1998. Their goal was to raise money and create more awareness for cystic fibrosis. In 2008, they released a set of songs on their MySpace page under the album name This Kid. Although This Kid is not an official studio album, a few of these songs appeared throughout their career, including "Burn Apollo" that was re-recorded on their debut album, Queens being played live in 2012, and "I Need to Be Fixed" played live during Warped Tour 2012. The band played many small shows and festivals in California during this time. In 2009 the band added guitarist Travis Neumann whose first appearance was on the band's 2009 EP, Goody Two Shoes. that was followed by the release of two more EPs, Broadcast This and Regan MacNeil. The band spent all of 2010 working and recording their first studio album with Green Day frontman and Joey's father, Billie Joe Armstrong. In 2011, the band released their first full-length album, Don't Be a Dick, on June 14 through Adeline Records. The album featured six re-recorded songs from their earlier releases.