They played one show at a squat in Hackney called the Blue House, with an early incarnation of My Bloody Valentine, who at the time closed their set with a version of the Stooges' "Shake Appeal".
The demo was reviewed in Underground magazine, who described the band as sounding "like MC5 with their shirts on fire", calling it "loud, obnoxious, and perfect for the late '80s".
[4] In 1988, they released a new version of "Gimme Fever" (featuring Vines on bass) on NoTown Records; the Black Flag-influenced "Mexico City SOS" was on the b-side.
Around this time, the band had discovered the new American sounds Hüsker Dü, Dinosaur Jr, and Sonic Youth.
They added Graham Bonner, formerly of the band Ut on drums, and Swervedriver was soon signed to Creation Records, based on the strength of the last Shake Appeal demo.