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LP
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SWA 168LP
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$26.00
PREORDER
RELEASE DATE: 5/15/2026
"San Diego's Mrs. Magician has always bent surf music and punk into something delightfully off-kilter -- sun-soaked, hook-heavy power pop with a lyrical fixation on life's darker undercurrents. Their 2012 debut, Strange Heaven, was a nihilistic pop statement that grew into a cult classic. The 2016 follow-up, Bermuda, sharpened the edges with punchy, nervy songwriting. Both records were produced by John Reis (Rocket From The Crypt, Hot Snakes, Drive Like Jehu), cementing the band's place in Southern California's underground lineage. Now, Mrs. Magician reemerges with their long-awaited third LP, Spiritual Hangover. Recorded at Dave Grohl's Studio 606 and Singing Serpent Studios with producer Christian Cummings, Spiritual Hangover finds songwriter Jacob Turnbloom trading youthful nihilism for something more reflective. Where earlier records wrestled with existential dread through anthemic defiance, this new collection embraces uncertainty -- an admission of ignorance in the face of the human condition, paired with a genuine longing for connection and understanding. The humor remains. The hooks are sharper than ever. But the perspective has shifted. These songs feel less like a declaration of dominance and more like a celebration of fragility -- an acknowledgment that life is fleeting, confusing, and still worth enjoying. The album features Andrew Montoya (drums) and Mark Rivera (bass) of The Sess, Ian Fowles (guitar) of The Aquabats, and John Reis (guitar). Spiritual Hangover channels the bright urgency of late-'70s power pop through a distinctly Californian lens -- warm, melodic, and irresistibly alive."
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LP
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SWA 169LP
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$26.00
PREORDER
RELEASE DATE: 5/15/2026
"Sultans Ghost Ship LP was originally released on Sympathy For The Record Industry in 2000. While RFTC looked for a new drummer, Speedo (armed with an 8-track tape machine and three microphones) devised yet another alias as 'Slasher' and concocted this primordial ooze of moped scuzz, punk rock and roll. Ghost Ship was met with enthusiasm by those seeking blistering relief from the weak, whiny, wretched and wimpy wannabes du jour. The sound is full on, straight ahead with only starting gates and finish lines between songs. The band played some shows around California and would slightly evolve on their second LP Shipwrecked. Ghost Ship is Sultans at their most thuggish and hairiest. Taking inspiration from Australia's Chosen Few, Ramones, bootlegs, Misfits bootlegs and then challenging themselves to be as thrifty and impatient as possible, the songs are intentionally brief, similar and burly. After this was recorded these tapes lay dormant in a shed for over 20 years. When the tapes were recently unearthed it revealed unreleased songs recorded after Ghost Ship yet before the band's follow up LP Shipwrecked. Some of these songs would later be absorbed by RFTC and re-recorded. These songs are included here as bonus tracks and offer no relief to the record's unrelenting pace."
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CD
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SWA 165CD
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"Over four years in the making, Yell At Cloud is the follow up to the PLOSIVS critically hailed debut. Why so long between releases, you ask? Nov. 2020 the band was invited to be the first guinea pigs at No Fun Club recording studio in Winnipeg, Canada and baptize the brand-new facility. The band would live and record in the studio and be densely immersed in the forming of this new record. Most of what you hear on Yell At Cloud was recorded in the dark or by candlelight in below freezing conditions. It wasn't as romantic as it sounds. Due to Canada's regulations for foreign travelers during the pandemic, the band had to forge out on foot once a day in blizzard-like conditions to a clinic a mile away where they had to be swabbed nasally, between the toes and in the groin area in order to be tested for COVID so they could be allowed to stay in the country for another 24 hours. This had a massive influence on the material and the way it was captured to tape. Finally the sessions became so intense the band members could no longer sustain focus to completion and decided to return home to finish the record at a later date. Months turned to years. Drummer Atom Willard was now the full-time member of the Alkaline Trio. Guitarist John Reis focused on Hot Snakes and his solo recordings and shows with Swami John Reis. Singer and guitarist Rob Crow continued with Pinback and a myriad of projects both musical and visual. Bassist Jordan Clark reconnected with his band The Frights and began touring and recording with them once again. There was such a massive emotional dust cloud kicked up during the recording of Yell At Cloud that it took four years to settle. Finally, Ben Moore (who recorded and mixed the band's debut) stepped in and mixed Yell At Cloud. In order to a create seamless continuity with the original tracks, Ben mixed the majority of these files in the dark with the brightness of his screen turned to the lowest setting. The result is a claustrophobic album that searches for an oasis within. From lurching dissonance to uplifting harmonic convergences Yell At Cloud is a stark, black and white departure from their debut."
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LP
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SWA 165LP
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LP version. "Over four years in the making, Yell At Cloud is the follow up to the PLOSIVS critically hailed debut. Why so long between releases, you ask? Nov. 2020 the band was invited to be the first guinea pigs at No Fun Club recording studio in Winnipeg, Canada and baptize the brand-new facility. The band would live and record in the studio and be densely immersed in the forming of this new record. Most of what you hear on Yell At Cloud was recorded in the dark or by candlelight in below freezing conditions. It wasn't as romantic as it sounds. Due to Canada's regulations for foreign travelers during the pandemic, the band had to forge out on foot once a day in blizzard-like conditions to a clinic a mile away where they had to be swabbed nasally, between the toes and in the groin area in order to be tested for COVID so they could be allowed to stay in the country for another 24 hours. This had a massive influence on the material and the way it was captured to tape. Finally the sessions became so intense the band members could no longer sustain focus to completion and decided to return home to finish the record at a later date. Months turned to years. Drummer Atom Willard was now the full-time member of the Alkaline Trio. Guitarist John Reis focused on Hot Snakes and his solo recordings and shows with Swami John Reis. Singer and guitarist Rob Crow continued with Pinback and a myriad of projects both musical and visual. Bassist Jordan Clark reconnected with his band The Frights and began touring and recording with them once again. There was such a massive emotional dust cloud kicked up during the recording of Yell At Cloud that it took four years to settle. Finally, Ben Moore (who recorded and mixed the band's debut) stepped in and mixed Yell At Cloud. In order to a create seamless continuity with the original tracks, Ben mixed the majority of these files in the dark with the brightness of his screen turned to the lowest setting. The result is a claustrophobic album that searches for an oasis within. From lurching dissonance to uplifting harmonic convergences Yell At Cloud is a stark, black and white departure from their debut."
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LP
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SWA 157LP
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"Swami Records is excited to glom onto Chicago punks Meat Wave for the release of their fourth album Malign Hex. Ryan Wizniak (drums), Joe Gac (bass) and Chris Sutter (vocals, guitar) strip back the 'Windy City Sound' and expose a more jagged and turbulent frame. The ten-track album, which features singles 'What Would You Like Me To Do' as well as 'Ridiculous Car' and 'Honest Living,' was recorded by Gac in 2019 and serves as the band's most cohesive, dynamic and ambitious work to date. 'Our sound in the beginning was consistently very driving,' says Gac. 'Now, that characteristic is merely a tool we can reach for. I don't think it completely defines what we're doing.' Meat Wave spent the last half of 2019 chipping away at Malign Hex. 'We recorded it the same way we always have -- live in a room together,' says drummer Ryan Wizniak. 'But we allowed ourselves to embellish more and take more chances with extra instrumentation.' While Malign Hex does incorporate synths, organs, and walls of guitar, it provides only nuance and atmosphere and does not displace Meat Wave from their meat locker. The album's lyrics center around themes of lineage and explores a litany of subjects and circumstances: addiction, greed, unreliable memory, obedience. All through a surrealist, collage-like lens. 'Everyone wears a backpack full of hexes,' Chris Sutter explains. 'It's heavy and familial. And it's yours.'"
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CD
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SWA 129CD
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"In the tradition of the fine Swami reissues of Crime and Testors comes a primordial belch of pathos crushing punk ineptness. The Penetrators' Basement Anthology chronicles this criminally overlooked Syracuse bands recordings from 1976-1982. Their sound was firmly rooted in the tradition of the rebellious rock n roll of the 60's and branded with generous amounts of the attitude and style that marked the first wave of American punk bands. Basement Anthology is a time machine back into an age that chronologically is not that long ago but culturally is beyond reach. The Penetrators liberal use of gigantic bumble bee guitar rip, paper tommy gun snare attack, sure echoed vocal proclamations of eternal rock n roll lore. In a time when eyeliner and synthesizers were listed as ground breaking musical influences The Penetrators upstate isolation bred a band worthy to hold the torch of garage blasting during what was then considered dark times. Until now only championed by the Killed By Death set (is there such a thing?), Basement Anthology rectifies elusiveness and puts these legendary noise makers on the radar."
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