Hello, everyone! Welcome to the hub for my Deep Dive project Establishing Screamo Canon: From Chaos to Catharsis! 2025 was the Year of Screamo and, while I didn’t quite get to my goal of covering Screamo from the 90s through 2015, getting through the 90s wound up being a Herculean feat in and of itself. I’m quite proud of this accomplishment! The series will continue indefinitely as I have time for it, but getting it up onto the website was very important. Please refer to the Overview post for more information about the series and the various sub-series within.
Below you can sort by subseries or via a tag cloud, weighing the most commonly-used tags such as artists, release years, record labels, locations, genres and even descriptors! Please keep an eye on this as the series continues!
- Emoviolence
- 1999
- 1998
- Dynamic
- Dissonant
- Frantic
- Noisy
- Chaotic
- Melodic
- Florida
- 1997
- Massachusetts
- Post-Hardcore
- Grindcore
- Energetic
- Hardcore Punk
- Complex
- Orchid
- Raw
- Midwest Emo
- SoCal
- Emocore
- Manic
- Witching Hour Records
- Aggressive
- Metallic
- Technical
- Virginia
- Atmospheric
- Metalcore
- Ebullition Records
- Reversal of Man
- Frenetic
- Combatwoundedveteran
- Math Rock
- Independent
- Indiana
- Dense
- Jeromes Dream
- D.C.
- Canada
- Connecticut
- Gravity Records
- Saetia
- Sass
- Post-Rock
- Three One G Records
- Japan
- Encyclopedia of American Traitors
- Stack
- Pennsylvania
- Dark
- Usurp Synapse
- Schematics Records
- ForceFedGlass
- New York
- Intense
- New Jersey
- Noise Rock
- Powerviolence
- Summersault Records
Swing Kids - Swing Kids | Holy Grails 1997
The Artifact:
1997
Three One G Records
Runtime: 19:58
Tracks: 9
Artifact Characteristics:
Post-Hardcore, Screamo, Proto-Sass, Hardcore Punk, Eclectic, Frantic, Chaotic
Artifact Archeologists:
Justin Pearson (Vocals)
Eric Allen (Guitar)
John Brady (Bass)
Jose Palafox (Drums)
Artifact Contents:
Every track from their 1994 s/t
Every track from a split with Spanakorzo
An original track that would feature in a future comp
Artifact Echoes:
Spastic, experimental and playful Screamo is all you're going to find on this record, documenting every song from the band thus far. Although you can still piece out the traditional Hardcore influence, dissonance, rhythmic unpredictability and general chaos are all elements these early pioneers utilized to keep listeners on their toes. The band can transition between a rapid-fire verse fueled by unhinged screaming and overwhelming drums to a sarcastic jazzy number played with great skill and technicality.
Artifact Legacy:
Justin Pearson is an important figure to underground music, especially in San Diego. He started Three One G Records, starred in Swing Kids as their vocalist and went on to form Sass and Hardcore legends The Locust. However, Swing Kids’ Discography is enough of a reason to celebrate; the mark this band left on San Diego, Hardcore music, Screamo. Sasscore and underground music as a whole cannot be ignored. Swing Kids achieved levels of pandemonium very few before them could have hoped for while injecting heaps of personality, a brutal and fun concoction that we are still enjoying the influence of over 30 years later.
Artifact Value:
Originally released in 1997 in CD format, there were several reissues, including a notable one in 2002. The original CD is pretty obtainable, though a 2003 vinyl pressing could be difficult to obtain these days. The band made a few random comebacks in later years, releasing two new songs along the way and necessitating another compilation release in 2020. Whether or not that makes this release less valuable, it's absolutely worth obtaining for fans of the band, early Screamo or the San Diego sound.