THE SWIPES from Frankfurt/Mannheim have been playing melodic British and American-style punk rock since 2007, with critical English lyrics and clear influences from well-known genre greats such as Leatherface, Snuff, Ramones, Hot Water Music and China Drum. Fat walls of guitars form the foundation for seductive melodies, bass and drums pulsate dynamically and drive the Swipes‘ rage relentlessly forward.
The trio takes a blunt stance on the many bitter issues of our age: the future and the planet’s resources are being unscrupulously gambled for, everything subordinated to the interests of power politics and the greed of economic elites and corporations. Whether it’s the dark side of globalization, the sell-out of water rights to large corporations, right-wing hatred and fake news, Europe turning a blind eye to the deaths in the Mediterranean or the ongoing destruction of the environment – the band not only puts its finger in the wound, but its whole fist. „Generation Slave“, the band’s third album, was already a system-critical soundtrack to the collective failures of this world.
The new album „Something in the way must be destroyed“ was released in March 2024 on Mad Butcher Records and is punkier and more uncompromising than ever before: fast, often dark 90s-style punk rock with sarcastic and bitter lyrics about the decay of our culture and society. 10 bangers, garnished with cover versions of China Drum and Pegboy.
What has already happened: In 2018, THE SWIPES went on tour in Malaysia. In September 2020, they released a split mini-album with American punk rock legends Moving Targets. In the following years, they shared the stage several more times (including three times in 2024). In 2022, THE SWIPES finally took off with a new line-up, recorded their new album in 2023 and also played with the legendary „Bollock Brothers“ in the same year. At the beginning of 2024, they supported the well-known US emo-punk pioneers „Samiam“, followed in the summer by the British punk rockers „Diaz Brothers“ (members of HDQ, Red London, Angelic Upstarts).
Social commitment: 1€ per CD/LP „Generation slave“ will be donated to the civil sea rescue organization Sea-Watch. At a joint benefit concert with the bands Stage Bottles, Shutcombo and FCKR in winter 2019 and a contribution to the accompanying solo sampler „All cats are beautiful“, the band also supported Project Shelter (help for homeless refugees). The band also tries to play CO2-neutral concerts wherever possible and makes compensation payments to environmental projects.
Vocals & guitar: Stefan Becker
Bass: Ralf Unterstab
Drums: Patrick Bernhagen
The press about The Swipes:
“An elegant-dirty mixture which reminds a bit of bands like Triggerfinger, The Strokes and The (International) Noise Conspiracy (…)” noisy Neighbours
“If you’re fans of The White Stripes, The Hives and The (International) Noise Conspiracy, then you will love these four Frankfurt’s.”RockAndReview.com
“These boys play a thoroughly fancy blend of The Hives, The Stooges, The Cramps or anything of the kind. (…) An appealing sound… And I’m eager to see them live!” Trust
„Fresh songs that bear comparison with the big names (i.e. The Hives, The International Noise Conspiracy and The Clash) but are very independent.“Wildwechsel
„Unfilial amalgamation of garage, pop, beat, punk and all kinds of well worked out sounds (…) Comes increasingly across as being spacy – like out of this world.“ Ox
“Top cover, top claim! And the music is no less awesome. 13 garage smashers on a debut cd without noteworthy deficiencies. Hats off! ”Pankerknacker
„A hipswinging, fist-in-the-air-pumping sound à la Hives, Hellacopters and Dictators Flight 13
“The band of the evening (…) Inspired rock’n’roll hooklines, igniting effects.” Journal Frankfurt
“One of the currently most interesting bands in Frankfurt is called The Swipes.”Frankfurter Neue Presse