„A wild, independent mix of styles with plenty of sixties beat, garage punk, drugged wah wah guitars and surf and reggae influences. The Stooges and the Cramps meet with the Hives and the Strokes in a newly renovated German garage. „So vividly brings the author of a leading music magazine to the point, what he has heard in The Swipes. Many of his colleagues are similarly fascinated.
Clear case: The quartet from the Greater Frankfurt am Main beats a wide arc from the 60s to the present and goes with mighty pressure and drive to the point. More and more fans are electrified by this extravagant yet radio-friendly in-your-face (punk)rock.
This is ensured by the output in sound carrier form. The CD debut „Destroy Your World“ from 2010 soon followed the CD / LP „Lost“ as well as two Maxi-CDs. In August 2018 the band released their new full-length player „Generation slave“. Filled up with high-energy kick-ass songs and lots of political lyrics about the dark topics of our time: Globalisation, modern slavery, climate change, right wing nationalism, refugees and water stealing companies like Nestlé.
In 2017 the band played – beside the German shows – a tour in Malaysia. In 2020 The Swipes released a split 10″/CD with the legendary punkrock band Moving Targets.
Vocals & guitar: Stefan Becker
Guitar: Slavko Akalovic
Bass: Ralf Unterstab
Drums: Patrick Bernhagen
This is what the press says 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