Bad Year

Reviews

Bad Year Bad Year LP

This band advertises themselves as a ’90s throwback, and wouldn’t you know it, they’re certainly not fooling! Melodic, harmonious punk that brings to mind LAGWAGON, SAMIAM, and a hornless LESS THAN JAKE. BAD YEAR sounds like they’d be right at home on one of those early Fat Wreck comps that everyone still gushes over. Really catchy stuff, though. Tight, and produced extremely well. I need to specifically give props to the drummer here, as their dynamics really bring the energy of this record to a whole other level. I won’t lie, I’m usually not a fan of these modern bands who do the retro pop punk sound, but BAD YEAR really pulls it off. This is well worth a couple spins if you’re into this type of thing.

Bad Year My Escape 7″

This record really makes me realize that the only difference between a lot of the “cheesy” pop-punk that gets compared to NOFX and the “authentic” pop punk that gets compared to CRIMPSHRINE is production value. BAD YEAR’s songs are pretty great, but I kind of can’t get past the squeaky-clean delivery. There are moments where the grittiness sneaks in, but most of it lands closer to SCREECHING WEASEL. Hand-screened, one-sided, four-song picture disc.