Swallow The Rat – MMA Math: 13th Floor New Song Of The Day

Tāmaki Makaurau psych-post-punks Swallow the Rat release a new single, MMA Math, ahead of their Face Unpopular EP, and the EP release tour which kicks off on Friday May 23rd.

Here is the blurb with more:

Swallow the Rat drummer and video-maker Hayden Fritchley says, “‘MMA Math’ is essentially the realisation that A plus B does not always equal C, especially when you remove context. 

For recording we employed our usual approach which is to bash it out in one or two takes then add vocals.

The visualizer for the song is live footage from our show last year at The Lost Well in Austin, TX. It was filmed by the Boston-based collective Digital Awareness using real time video projections of the band put through various analogue effects.”

The band spent a weekend at the end of last year with Nick Abbott at his Auckland studio, recording three new songs which will feature on the Face Unpopular EP. They’re the last tracks written and recorded with singer/bassist Stephen Horsley, who left (amicably) to pursue adventures in recording and production.

In addition to the three new originals, the Face Unpopular EP will feature a blistering remix by A Place To Bury Strangers, and will be released on 7″ vinyl via Otautahi/Christchurch imprint Leather Jacket Records.

New to Swallow the Rat are Jimmy Coldham on guitar and Nicholas Auguston on bass. The new configuration band have already played two shows this year, with an EP release tour on the way for May and June.

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Swallow the Rat are having an eventful 2025, to put it mildly.

Their brand new EP ‘Face Unpopular’ is due out on Friday May 23rd, the same day that the EP release tour starts; the first show is at Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland’s Whammy Bar with Scran and Memory Foam.

The Face Unpopular EP will be released on 7″ by Leather Jacket Records, and it will be available for pre-orders soon. The EP includes the title track which was heard across the Student Radio Network, plus a remix by US noiseniks A Place to Bury Strangers.

That’s just the tip of the iceberg – in September Swallow the Rat head out on an epic 18-date tour of Europe which takes up the whole of September.

Following the ‘Face Unpopular’ tour, Swallow the Rat’s next live appearance in Aotearoa will be support for Pumpkinhead’s reunion gig at The Mothership (alongside Buzz).

Swallow the Rat – Face Unpopular EP Release Tour

Friday 23rd May – Whammy Bar, Auckland with Scran and Memory Foam

Saturday 31st May – Space Academy, Christchurch with This Dog

Friday 6th June – Snails, Palmerston North with Glass Ankles and Monty Hall’s Problem

Saturday 7th June – Moon, Wellington with EUG and Menzies

Saturday 14th June – Last Place, Hamilton with Indecision and Empress

Friday 20th June – Palace Tavern, Mount Maunganui with The Slaying Seas and False Waltons

Saturday 21st June – Paisley Stage, Napier with Doom Swoon and Warner Emery

Tickets are available from Under the Radar

Pumpkinhead – Sloth 30th Anniversary Tour

Thursday 9th October – The Mothership, Auckland with Swallow the Rat and Buzz

Tickets are available from Under the Radar

About Swallow the Rat

Swallow the Rat are a post-punk band from Auckland, New Zealand, consisting of a core duo of guitarist Brian Purington and drummer Hayden Fritchley. Since forming in late 2017, steady releases and relentless touring has seen the band earn a dedicated underground following. They’ve also been selected for coveted international support slots for the likes of Sebadoh, No Age, Gang of Four, Arab Strap, June of 44, Quicksand, Toe, and Mannequin Pussy.

In 2024, on the back of sophomore album South Locust, the band completed their third US tour, taking them from Texas to New York and back again, concluding with a triumphant return to SXSW. South Locust was recorded by long-time collaborator of the band Nick Abbott (Die! Die! Die!), mixed by Sonny Diperri (Protomartyr, Diiv) and mastered by Carl Saff (Sonic Youth).

Debuting at No. 7 on the Official Aotearoa Album Charts, the record made numerous end-of-year lists, and the track ‘Cave’ was voted a top ten single at the 2024 NZ Student Radio Network Awards.

Listen to South Locust here