In a busted, musty house in Atlanta, where the basement flooded when it rained and the landlord once tried to evict them, Sword II recorded the most ambitious and electrically charged music of their lives.
Electric Hour, the band’s forthcoming full-length for section1, is a catchy and principled rock record about life under a surveillance state, loving through hardship, and finding strength in friendship and creative resistance. Self-recorded over 14 months by Mari González, Certain Zuko, and Travis Arnold, the album marks Sword II’s first fully cohesive statement after years of working in a more experimental mode. Drawing from a wide range of influences, the trio has forged a sound that’s raw, defiant, and grounded in real-world experience.
The sessions took place in a crumbling rental house with faulty wiring that repeatedly shocked the band, forcing them to rely more on acoustic instrumentation. The roof leaked, repairs were ignored, and shortly after signing their record deal, several of their friends were raided by the FBI in connection with the Stop Cop City movement, with one jailed for months. Police presence and paranoia seeped into the songs.
Tracks like “Sentry” channel that tension, while others explore love, alienation, labor, addiction, queerness, and survival through vivid and often surreal imagery. Despite these heavy themes, Electric Hour remains inviting and replayable, built around strong vocals, harmonies, and stripped-down arrangements meant to connect rather than obscure.
In the final months, the band adopted camouflage as a ritual, treating each session like a battle against exhaustion and doubt. Every song was co-written, self-produced, and collaboratively arranged, strengthening their trust and collective voice.
Rooted in Atlanta’s DIY scene, Sword II writes from lived experience—fear, joy, desire, and resistance—while Electric Hour ultimately reaches for something larger and more transcendent. As the band puts it, they are “survivors, psychic warriors, lovers,” and that spirit carries through every note.
