With the release of their Adam Lasus-produced full-length debut, 2021’s Ruin Your Day, the Los Angeles-based rock outfit Swerve, led by Greg Mahdesian and Ryan Berti was released to critically acclaim and received consistent airplay nationally — perhaps a result of the album featuring ripping, catchy, dark and politically-minded love songs.

Locally, the album produced three #1 hits on KROQ‘s Locals Only Chart — “Escape,” album title track “Ruin Your Day,” and “Ebbs and Flows” — and the station listed the band as one of the top ten bands in Los Angeles. Adding to a growing profile, they became an official Vox Amplifier artist, and they were praised by Alice Cooper and Matt Pinfield, who also played them on their respective radio shows.

Although momentum was building, they paused so Mahdesian could focus on spending time with his newborn daughter. Despite his newfound commitments, the band fit in an orchestral, cinematic rendition of “Ebbs and Flows,” and they played a sold-out get-out-the-vote show in 2022. When the band reconvened, their sound evolved into something leaner and more focused sound, which led to their Adam Lasus and Jessica Rotter-produced The Darkroom EP.

Slated for a June 21, 2024 release, the EP thematically sees the band looking back on their wilder years, and delves into the darkness of failing relationships, endless nights and the need to be adored, which quite fittingly led to their cover of the classic Stone Roses tune “I Wanna Be Adored.”

While retaining the yearning nature of the song and the beloved melody, the Los Angeles-based rock outfit’s cover turns the song into a buzzing and slithering Queens of the Stone Age/Desert Sessions-like ripper.

“The Stone Roses made one of my favorite records (I’ve actually purposefully never listened to Second Coming) and ‘I Wanna Be Adored’ is their most iconic track,” Swerve’s Greg Mahdesian says. “It’s also a genuinely weird song that has minimalist lyrics and psychedelic/rave/rock production, and I’ve never heard a cover of it before. We’ve done plenty of covers live, from the Replacements to Black Sabbath, but really wanted to record one and take it in a new direction. When you’re writing your own song you can get locked into a style or idea of what your music sounds like. When the song is already written for you, all the creative energy can be put into the arrangement, and we went left-field with this one. Ryan used a baritone guitar, we got inspired by Desert Sessions and Queens of the Stone Age, and I sang the vocals in the dark—why not, ya know? Brandon Duncan, who plays bass and mixes our records, was given free rein and turned in a really creative mix. This is already opening up our sound and approach for the next batch of songs we’re working on.”