Max Becker of SWMRS performs at Live 105’s BFD 2017 at Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View on June 10, 2017. Alessio Neri/STAFF. SWMRS’ Max Becker doesn’t remember undoing his seatbelt, but obviously he did on the fateful drive from Oakland to Denver, where the band was set to begin…

The fourth album from Oakland’s SWMRS, Berkeley’s on Fire, has a clear intent to avoid categorization. Compared to previous albums like 2016’s Drive North—an album characterized by sugary pop-punk vocals and formulaic lyrical narratives—Berkeley’s on Fire is a welcomed departure. While Drive North strove to synthesize the band’s sound with a…

SWMRS perform at the UC Theatre in Berkeley on Oct. 27, 2018. Photos: Chloe Catajan. BERKELEY — With Halloween around the corner, SWMRS started the scream fest early at the UC Theatre Saturday. For its third annual Uncool Halloween, the Oakland band channeled the Harry Potter series. “Hedwig’s Theme”…

  Not many bands would pass up multiple opportunities to open for Green Day, but Oakland’s SWMRS had a reason: nepotism. Because the pop-punk band’s drummer, Joey Armstrong, is the son of Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong, SWMRS had felt that others were judging them as getting a hand…

Oakland pop punk band SWMRS will headline a Ghost Ship fire benefit concert at record store and label 1-2-3-4 Go! Records Sunday. “There is no accurate way to describe the hole that is forever left in our scene and our city by this devastating catastrophe,” singer Cole Becker said in…