Swollen Members Return Has Teeth

In case you haven't heard, Swollen Members are back.

After Mad Child's battle with addiction, they've regrouped, sharpened the battle axe and are set to release their new album Armed To The Teeth later this month.

Making a return is no easy task for the group, as they try to make up for lost time and redeem themselves of their past two albums, which they admit left a sour taste in the mouths of some fans.

"When we made Black Magic we were really happy with the outcome as a whole, but we had put out an album called Heavy that we were really unhappy with," Mad Child says.

"We made Heavy in a really short period of time and we made it for the wrong reason. We made it to keep the business money train going, and that's not why you should make music. You should make music for yourself, at least that's my opinion, and we learned that the hard way.

"But when we came back with Black Magic in 2006, we really wanted to stay true to what we thought Swollen Members were, forgetting about the need for singles to take to radio."

He continues, "It's kind of funny; we went in two opposite ways. I think with Armed To The Teeth we finally figured out a balance of what we want our albums to be."

While Mad Child is stoked about the release of Armed To The Teeth, he isn't oblivious to the fact that returning to the music scene after three years in darkness can be hard. After releasing the album's first singles, the amount of online negativity and back-and-forth was something he had to get used to.

"One thing that's funny when you go on these blogs and stuff is that some of these kids love to go on and just talk shit," he says. "I'm sure you've noticed that about the internet. So at first I was just like, 'Oh, my God!' My partner and I were laughing and he was like, 'Dude, that's just the way things are now.'

"So I checked on other artists that I was a fan of, and I realized there were people out there who just love to talk shit.

"Everyone's a music critic these days."

Along with the new album, Swollen Members are also ready to hit the road with an upcoming North American tour.

You can see them at these shows in support of Armed To The Teeth:

Oct. 23 San Bernardino, CA @ San Manuel Amphitheater (Smokeout Festival)
Oct. 24 Tempe, AZ @ The Clubhouse
Oct. 25 Las Vegas, NV @ Wasted Space
Oct. 27 Flagstaff, AZ @ Orpheum Theatre
Oct. 30 Colorado Springs, CO @ The Black Sheep
Oct. 31 Denver, CO @ The Marquis Theatre
Nov. 2 Fort Collins, CO @ Aggie Theatre
Nov. 3 Boulder, CO @ Fox Theatre
Nov. 4 Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge
Nov. 5 Boise, ID @ Knitting Factory Concert House
Nov. 6 Bend, OR @ The Domino Room
Nov. 7 Portland, OR @ Hawthorne Theatre
Nov. 8 Seattle, WA @ Neumos
Nov. 09 Nanaimo, BC @ Queens
Nov. 10 Victoria, BC @ Elements
Nov. 11 Whistler, BC @ Moe Joe's
Nov. 12 Vancouver, BC @ The Red Room On Richards
Nov. 13 Kamloops, BC @ Chrome City Night Club
Nov. 14 Lethbridge, AB @ Blarney Stone
Nov. 17 Calgary, AB @ Back Alley
Nov. 18 Edmonton, AB @ University Of Alberta
Nov. 19 Sylvan Lake, AB @ Chef Francisco
Nov. 20 Regina, SK @ Ditrikt Nightclub
Nov. 21 Winnipeg, MB @ Pyramid Cabaret
Nov. 23 Fort Frances, ON @ Townshend Theatre
Nov. 24 Thunder Bay, ON @ The Roxy
Nov. 25 Sault Ste Marie, ON @ Canadian Nightclub
Nov. 26 Cobalt, ON @ Cobalt Classic Theatre
Nov. 28 Ottawa, ON @ Ritual Nightclub
Dec. 1 Montreal, QC @ Club Lambi
Dec. 2 Toronto. ON @ Lee's Palace
Dec. 3 Waterloo, ON @ Starlight
Dec. 4 St. Catharines, ON @ Mikado
Dec. 5 Sarnia, ON @ Stubborn
Dec. 7 Sudbury, ON @ Shaughnessy's
Dec. 8 Timmins, ON @ Club 147
Dec. 11 Lloydminster, AB @ The Kooler
Dec. 12 Widewater, AB @ Widewater Complex