Somerset Thrower

Somerset Thrower, rooted on Long Island, fuse the post-hardcore emo approach of Jawbreaker and Sunny Day Real Estate with Swervedriver-tinged alt-rock drawn from the 1990s, a combination showcased on their first album, Godspeed, issued in 2018.

The quartet arose from the remains of Long Island outfits such as Agent, Polygon, Bastard Cut, and additional projects when Frank Traficante, Jr. (vocals, guitar), Conor Freeman (bass), Tim Chimeti (drums), and John Stippell (guitar) each sought a fresh venture. Merging the punk and alt-rock textures of those earlier groups, the four-piece began rehearsing near 2012 and put out a demo the next year, captured by Sheer Terror’s Anthony Corallo. Their opening EP, Falling Swingers, appeared in 2015 on Dead Broke Rekerds and contained a version of Smashing Pumpkins’ “Stumbleine.” Shows alongside the Story So Far, Iron Chic, and Slingshot Dakota came next, after which the band delivered their follow-up single, Rain. During the year that followed, Somerset Thrower performed occasional shows while composing and tracking their debut full-length. Returning to the studio with Corallo and Long Island punk fixture Phil Douglas, they completed the album. A split single with MOUTH surfaced in mid-2018, and the complete Godspeed arrived one month later.