Swearin' Reunite for Shows With Superchunk in 2018

Introducing Endless Mode: A New Games & Anime Site from Paste

Read our announcement | See the 10 Best Games of 2025 (So Far)

There’s a lot to talk about when we talk about Swearin’—namely the fact that they arrived as a pinnacle of Philadelphia punk earlier this decade (with 2011’s What a Dump). Then, in 2015, they split up. Earlier this year, Allison Crutchfield (partner in the badass sisterhood that includes Katie Crutchfield of Waxahatchee) released her debut album Tourist in this Town, which was about that very same breakup with band and with boyfriend-in-band Kyle Gilbride.

As Crutchfield said in an interview with Rachel Brodsky in January, “I didn’t really know how to navigate my social life when I was home. [The title’s] also about being on tour and being in this different place every day. And about being around a person I dated for a really long time who felt like a fucking ghost or a stranger.”

Despite failures to reunite for tour dates after Crutchfield and Gilbride initially broke up, the band has now appeared on the bill with Superchunk for some dates in 2018. Here’s what Crutchfield had to say on Instagram:

Most Popular

I wrote an extremely long and emotional caption describing the end of Swearin’ and some thoughts on how twisted band dynamics can get, but I decided not to post it because A) it far exceeded the captions limit and B) it felt like an explanation that wasn’t asked for and isn’t owed. The catalyst for all these feelings, and the thing I’m truly so psyched to tell you all, is that Jeff and Kyle and I have decided to do Swearin’ again. They’re both so special to me, and I really can’t wait to begin a new era of this band. Our ultimate heroes Superchunk asked us to come on tour in April to celebrate the release of their new album “What a Time to be Alive” (out on Merge 2/16/18). For these shows we’ll be joined by our very dear friend Amanda Bartley on bass. Tickets go on sale Friday and there’s a link in my bio. ‘Preciate y’all. <3. (fun fact: this photo was taken 4 or 5 years ago at the Eagle Rock Center for the Arts, and little did I know then that someday I’d be livin’ just down the street)

A post shared by AQC (@allisoncrutchfield) on Nov 8, 2017 at 7:16am PST

An important reminder of Swearin’s early and lasting power comes from What a Dump’s title track: “I will holler and I will shake / but I could never retaliate in a manner that would equate your wrong with my hate … Being pretty is infinite / but being angry is real important and I will die before I’ll give in.” We’re guessing that goes for the band, as well.

Swearin’ 2018 Tour Dates With Superchunk:

April:
03 – Washington, D.C. @ Black Cat
04 – Philadelphia, Pa. @ Union Transfer
06 – Cambridge, Mass. @ The Sinclair
07 – New York, N.Y. @ Bowery Ballroom
08 – New York, N.Y. @ Bowery Ballroom

Swearin’ Reunite for Shows With Superchunk in 2018