John Reis has started a new band dubbed Speedo. The group features the Hot Snakes' Jason Kourkounis on drums and Gar Wood on guitar as well as Tommy Kitsos of Montreal's CPC Gangbangs. On the Swami message board Reis commented:

The sound is a combonation of everything I've been a part of dating back to my prepubescent days in Pitchfork. Similar to Hot Snakes but not as sinister yet still maintaining some of the drama and subsonic boom. Akin to the rockin' fun of RFTC but without the same kind of riffery. Like the Sultans but not as straightforward yet still maintaining the sense of melody and pop of the 2nd record. Occassional nods to the Flamin' Groovies, Real Kids, Byrds, boogie rock era Status Quo, Bo Diddley, Chess Records in general, Wipers, Michael Yonkers and Shuggie Otis are evident to me.

Reis also spoke about a few upcoming Swami releases. In regards to posthumous Rocket From The Crypt material, he made mention of the upcoming DVD in the works, as well as a collection of songs from the Drag Racist Recordings studio. He's uncovered 13 unreleased songs from old tapes as well as raw versions of RFTC and Group Sounds songs. Any resulting release is still a ways away however. On top of all this, Reis has opened a bar in San Diego's North Park district called Pink Elephant. Speedo has plans to perform there in September after their record is finished.

More...