Featured recently in the 2025 B-movie “Commando ninja 2: Invasion America”, a film that centers a communist invasion of the USA that also includes zombies, dinosaurs, and cyborgs, you can imagine what sort of energy Swamp Music Players’ “Hear It on CN2” has to be able to match director Benjamin Combes’ absurdist, over-the-top insane vision. Both tracks that make up the EP are releases of earlier releases in 2017 and 2015, but re-recorded with vintage amplifiers that aim to give them an even older touch.
Swamp Music Players
, though founded in Victoria, Canada, has rapidly grown into an international collective that functions on collaborations between Canadian, American, and British musicians, and on genre fusions of Traditional Rock, Blues, Swamp Pop, and Americana. With an emphasis on Americana and Swamp pop, the collective is diverse at core. This is no different for this EP, officially released earlier this year at the first of August.
Joseph Gearheart, the Virginia-based singer/songwriter, is the backbone of the standout track “Crowd Pleasers”, where he brought his expertise in American and Southern Rock to create a simultaneously original and vintage Americana feel. The song is essentially a somewhat sarcastic celebration of the USA as it stands on the global stage in 2025.
Fitting perfectly in the action/comedy film, the song also stands out in its own right with the current relevance of the topic as all eyes continuously turn to the United States. Gearheart’s sharp writing is immediately biting from the first lines, comparing (America’s) deadly rockets somewhere in the world lighting up the sky like the fourth of July. Hollywood vocalist Sugar Parks’ backing vocals are an appreciated touch, that lend the song a Cosmopolitan, west-coast, sun-soaked vibe.
Like the film, the music is fast and relentless, with a vintage futuristic turn. As it is still friendly and appealing to the average fan, the track takes its time to linger in electric guitar solos. The cherry on top is the recording done with a real plate reverb old-school style.The second track, “Warrior”, while not at the level of “Crowd Pleaser”, has also a lot to offer. Centring the harsh life of ring fighters, the song is a remix that comes 10 years after the release of the original. The remix is recorded with custom steel plate reverbs, evoking 60s rock releases. With a colder, more urgent edge to the original single, “Warrior” is an equally fitting song to the larger-than-life film. Energetic, fun, and not without its philosophy, Swamp Music Players’ EP “Hear It on CN2” is a reminder of what such collectives can offer.
