Oh, man — can power-pop be the next big thing in underground rock ‘n’ roll? We got the ball rolling with the Exploding Hearts, Missing Monuments, and Mean Jeans, but it hasn’t seemed to become a “thing” like lo-fi, shitgaze, or whatever. However, given that we’ve got the #1s getting released in the states, and this Nightmare Boyzzz LP hitting about the same time, I’m hopeful.
Bad Patterns, out in two weeks on Slovenly Recordings, is truly wonderful. I’ve been returning to it more and more over the last week or so, and with each listen, I find something new to like about it. Granted, it’s not like these Huntsville boys are breaking out for new territory with this release. It hearkens back to quite a few other artists, taking pop-punk’s energy and the bouncy guitar rhythms of glam, and merging them with any number of early ’80s acts that came on the heels of the Buzzcocks and the Undertones.
It’s what the way Nightmare Boyzzz work everything together, though, that makes Bad Patterns work so well. The fuzzy guitar intro to “You’re A Star” reminds me of every song that’s ever grabbed me by the ears and wormed its way into my brain, yet deftly avoiding any lifts you can accurately pinpoint: “Well, that’s kind of like Slade … no, wait, that’s kind of a Marc Bolan thing … is that a Thin Lizzy solo? Fuck, man — you wanna listen to it again?”
And it does that over every single other song on the LP. This might be the new release for me to get evangelical over. It’s been a while since something had me this excited about a band. I know I’m into someone when I see their tour dates gets posted and start to consider road trips to check them out.
Get on that “whoa-oh” train and pop over to the Slovenly Bandcamp to pre-order this beauty.