Swerp Records announced today their official launch lineup and collective release date of May 22nd, in an advance video at Swerp Records – Chicago’s South Suburban Record Label. Much like a indie-rock Odd Future, the artists of Swerp Records share members, musical virtuosity, collaborative shows, and a warped sense of humor. The label, featuring a collection of seven of Chicago’s finest underground artists, represents the first formal releases from any of these groups.

Swerp Records comes from the little-known Chicago south suburban musical community, a lost branch of the city’s musical family tree. For the last six years, the bands of the south suburban scene built a rich history of exceptional musicianship and infamous shows, yet functioned entirely without promotion or representation. Loosely guided by multi-instrumentalist Nnamdi Ogbonnaya (The Para-Medics, Water House, Nervous Passenger, Sooper Secret Side Project) and drummer Brendan Smyth (Water House, Freudian Slip, Nervous Passenger), Swerp’s launch includes three all-new albums, two remastered albums, and new forthcoming releases.

Swerp’s launch releases consist of:

– THE PARA-MEDICS – PATSY CLINE GUN SQUID (new) – dizzying instrumental math-prog trio – (The Para-Medics – Tropical Caterpillar – YouTube – over 30,000 views)
– WATER HOUSE – ROSIE GUADALUPE WILMA MARY ANN (new) – self-described “miasma rock”, with jazz, rock, metal, and folk influences
– FREUDIAN SLIP – (TWO)BE TIED (new) – intense four-piece Midwest-style math rock
– RATBOYS – RATBOY (remastered) – clever, female-fronted experimental-folk duet
– NERVOUS PASSENGER – NERVOUS PASSENGER EP (remastered) – balls-to-the-wall suburban punk (Nervous Passenger “I got your back” – YouTube)
– JT ROYSTER – HANGIN’ BY THE SOUNDS (forthcoming) – warm, rural, Michigan-influenced folk
– NNAMDI’S SOOPER DOOPER SECRET SIDE PROJECT – BOOTY SLICES // ROTISSABOOTY – incredibly catchy, impossibly warped hip-hop, featuring contributions from every Swerp artist and beyond (GEDDALILDIP – Nnamdi Ogbonnaya – YouTube)

The three new albums were recorded in Chicago’s historic Pieholden Suite Sound, a studio founded in part by the late Jay Bennett of Wilco. The albums were engineered by Che Arthur (Atombompocketknife, Che Arthur Trio, Past/Future Records) and produced by Jonathan Mondragon (The Island of Misfit Toys). Swerp also launches with the back catalogues of seven additional classic South Suburban bands for streaming and download.

Swerp Records is hosting a public listening party May 6th via turntable.fm, with launch shows to follow shortly after the May 22nd release though SwerpRecords.com.

For any inquiries, please contact J Matthew Nix at JMNix@SwerpRecords.com, or by phone at 219.616.6973

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Swerp Records is a Chicago-based record label, devoted to badass music for awesome people. With a history going back to 2006, the artists on Swerp Records all have roots in the rich history of our Chicago South Suburban music scene – featuring The Para-Medics, Water House, Freudian Slip, Ratboys, Nervous Passenger, jt royster, Nnamdi’s Sooper-Dooper Secret Side Project, and more! For more info, visit us online at Swerp Records – Chicago’s South Suburban Record Label

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Email: jmnix@swerprecords.com