Swear Jar, an emotive post hardcore / punk rock band hailing from Vancouver BC, Canada includes members from various other bands, such as Rest Easy, Youth Fountain, Parting Ways, and The Greatest Sons.
In 2018, the band released their first EP, which was self-titled. Recently, they have produced another EP, and they have welcomed Tim Creviston (from Youth Fountain), who is a long-time friend and producer, to the band. Dylan Hossack (from Rest Easy) has also taken on the role of the main vocalist for the group. Swear Jar has joined forces with Early Onset Records, a new non-profit record label based in Vancouver and the band is releasing their new EP “Swear Jar II” today!
“There were many reason why it took so long to finish this EP.” – comments Dylan Hossack. Our original singer had an amazing opportunity to move to America for work. We had to make some changes, our guitarist Dylan Hossack took over vocal duties(he also sings in the band Rest Easy). Our good friend and producer Tim Creviston also joined the band. We know a lot of bands that also feel like the covid pandemic killed any momentum they had previously. It feels amazing to finally have this EP done and ready to show everyone. It’s not always fun and easy making music but when you are inspired to create something you just have to do it.”
Speaking about the cover art for the new EP, tha band says that they really loved the artwork from their first EP, so they wanted the artwork for the second EP to be in the same vein.
“A continuation of the story if that makes any sense?”
Track by track commentary:
Last Year
Last year was originally written as a bridge for one of Dylan’s old demo’s but the song itself wasn’t great. We loved the bridge so we turned it into an intro.
Lyrics(Dylan): I wrote the lyrics in 2012.. anyone remember that the world was supposed to end when the Mayan calendar ended Haha. It’s funny the lyrics are old but i feel like they are more relevant now than ever.
Vessel
Vessel was a song that came easily. We probably fleshed it out musically in one jam. It’s super fun to play and we can’t wait to play it live.
Lyrics(Dylan): When person lies to not hurt an-others feelings it usually blows up in that person’s face. I wrote this song about a friendship that ended over a lie that would have been forgiven if they were honest with me.
Unfinished Business
This was another song that musically we had in the bucket pretty quick. It’s short to the point and also really fun to play.
Lyrics(Dylan): I’ve been thinking about death more as i get older. The idea of dying with ‘unfinished business’ or when my family needs my help is terrifying to me. I don’t really have a fear of death but more so a fear of letting people down.
Til’ the Ceiling Breaks
When we first were jamming this song it always felt like it was special even before any melodies or lyrics were added. It’s fast but has Dylan’s typical weird chords and some cool ‘heavy’ parts that always got us vibing.
Lyrics(Dylan): It’s hard to really pin down exactly what this song is about i would say it’s a reflection on my past mistakes. I actually was given a ton of lyrics from Matt Earle of Dead End Drive-In. One line really stuck out to me and it fit the song perfectly so i wrote the rest of the lyrics around it.
We Fail
Musically when we started jamming this song we thought it would be slower but ended up kind of in the middle? Dylan was listening to A LOT of d.b.s. when he wrote these riffs so that probably rubbed off. Also our drummer Andrew is amazing at spicing up parts that maybe weren’t that interesting without his drumwork.
Lyrics(Dylan): As depressing as this song is i do love it. I wasn’t sure how i felt about it when I first wrote the lyrics. I feel like they speak for themself in this song. It’s hard to look around the world now and see much good from humanity.
Hard to Cope
The riffs for this song actually came from our original singer Curtis(Parting Ways). It was tuned down so Dylan had to mess around with it a bit but we are really happy with how it turned out.
Lyrics(Dylan): Unfortunately when you think you know someone you never truly know them. There’s just something so inspiring when your best friend stabs you in the back… haha
Catch the band live at their record release show on Saturday, April 15th, 2023 at Green Auto, 1822 Pandora Street in Vancouver.
