Meet the Mysterious Swaai Boys of NYC
I got a message in my inbox yesterday from the lovely Elena Sheppard. Would I like to review a concert tonight at the Studio at Webster Hall? Of course, the answer was "probably yes" even before I read the sweet description of the band that followed:
“Four cuties based out of NYC who are UBER talented, play tropical rock & roll mixed with pop exotica, and are essentially the Beach Boys mixed with Indiana Jones with some Elvis toppings.”
Elvis toppings? Count me in.
Those four cuties out of NYC are the Swaai Boys, founded by front man Andrew McInerney with guitarist Caleb Townsend, bassist Andrew Roth, and drummer Jose Ginarte. They released an EP back in April called Meet the Mysterious Swaai Boys — an upbeat rock/pop album full of songs that make summer come a little sooner. And on a warm summer night in the east village, they were the perfect opening act to a perhaps more widely known indie-rock band out of NYC, the Postelles.
Of course, upon meeting the mysterious Swaai Boys, there’s not much about them that’s mysterious. Their island sound and songs about travel, escape, fantasy and love jibed pretty well with the Hawaiian shirts each of them wore onstage and the young head-boppers in the audience. “This song is about exploring the world and you can’t make it back,” explained Roth, the bassist, before breaking into a lively ditty called Poisoned Berries.
But who needs mystery, anyway? The small crowd at Webster Hall was loving every minute of the Swaai Boys set — and so was I.
Check out some other fun tracks from the night:
