[kj] Afro-Punk & Swiz

[Devacor at aol.com]

In a message dated 2/26/2007 9:08:55 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,  
vassifer at earthlink.net writes:


>  Another one of my favorite hardcore bands, Swiz, who were were around

>  from about 1987 to 1992, and from the Washington DC area, was  

>  headed up

> by Shawn Brown -- he happens to be African Amrican and has a  killer

> voice often compared to Henry Rollins. Before Swiz he was  briefly in

> DC's Dag Nasty, the band that had some ex-Minor Threat  members in it.

> But they kicked Shawn out because his vocals were too  "hard" and they

> wanted a more melodic approach. There is a rare-ish  Dag Nasty  

> 1985-1986

> CD that haas all of Dag Nasty's  material with Shawn on vocals and it's

> way heavier than anything else  Dag nasty ever did; they evolved  

> into an

> uptempo  popcore band after he left. Ironically, the CD with him on it

> was the  first CD I ever purchased, back in the early 90s, and I was

> blown  away.

>

> So, Shawn Brown went to Swiz, which had a little bit of  NYHC in the  

> mix

> (Gorilla Biscuits style), a little bit  of post-hardcore, and really

> their own very cool thing going that's  all their own. After Swiz,  

> Shawn

> sang in Sweetbelly  Freakdown (horrible band name), essentially a Swiz

> reunion band who  put out one LP in 1997 that is actually pretty damned

> good. Then  Brown  went on to Jesus Eater for a few years, which were

> like a  Rollins Band-meets-Helmet, heavier groove-type band with a hint

> of  Black Sabbath (get Jesus Eater's LP, not their EP), but Jesus Eater

>  also broke up. Now I think Shawn Brown is a tattoo artist in  

>  Maryland or

> something.



I lucked out living in the DC area as I actually caught the first Dagnasty  
show ever (Shawn Brown singing)- they played a flurry of shows off the bat  so 
I saw them with Shawn singing 3-4 times. 
 there are some cuts from the first Dagnasty with smally singing that  I 
think are major classics- although I prefer shawn in the band- the latter  
Dagnasty to me turned just awful. 
I thought Swiz to be ok but they never got me off or anything. Yeah, now  
Shawn works as a tattoo artist at a shop that a high school friend of mine owns. 
 
 
Adam Helfer
President
Omkara World 
_www.Omkara-World.com_ (http://www.omkara-world.com/) 

www.myspace.com/adamomkara

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