by Stewart MasonThe charmingly named Swellers are a straightforward skatepunk band with some pop elements, very much in the tradition of NOFX, Bad Religion, and No Use for a Name. The Swellers formed in the small town of Fenton, MI (near Flint) in the summer of 2002 with a core trio of singer and guitarist Nick Diener, bassist Nate Lamberts, and drummer Jonathan Diener. Following a pair of self-released demos, 2002's Long and Hard and 2003's End of Discussion, the trio recorded its debut album, Beginning of the End Again, and signed to the Ann Arbor-based punk indie Search and Rescue Records (the Sophomore Year, etc.). Before the album's release, Lamberts bowed out of the band to attend college; he was replaced by new bassist Lance Nelson and a second guitarist, Garrett Burgett, in time for the band's debut cross-country trek on the 2005 edition of the Vans Warped Tour. While maintaining an active touring schedule, including a successful circuit around Japan in 2006, the Swellers wrote and recorded their second album, My Everest, released in the summer of 2007.