Sometime between me picking lint out of my belly button and the bender that took place thereafter – a glow emanates from my phone, “Lachlan Monty invited you to like Bad/Love.” Needless to say, my eyebrows became active, switched on by curiosity and a perplexing realisation, “New band…NEW BAND? Hell yeah” I whispered.
I was on that page faster than Bob Hawke could scull a pint, and what I saw was a Tron-esque screen grab of a music video shot by Colin Jeffs of the newly branded Ten of Swords Media Collective. Jeffs has been killing it in recent times with a multitude of works (that can be found via the Ten of Swords Facebook page), so I knew this should be good.
Bad/Love is the brand new creation of a profoundly experienced group of individuals who are no strangers to the heavy and alternative music scene. Make Them Suffer, Dream On Dreamer, Wolves, Brooklyn, Wither, Like Royals – these are a few bands of which Bad/Love has alumni and should provide an idea of the presentation that is to come. It’s something pretty damn killer.
Bad/Love have come out of the woodwork engraining themselves into a new scene – future emo. With powerful riffs, strong vocals, tight drum work, and a killer mix, the only thing Bad/Love needs now is some more music and some live shows under their belt. In saying that, with a feature from Marcus Bridge of Northlane, there is a good chance they will be hard done by to find enough room for an array of offers that I would expect to be coming their way.
The band screams “professional”, and I’m excited to see more from this ambitious project. Bad/ Love have announced that they will be releasing their debut EP SIOIS on July 5th with 10% of profits going to one of four charities close to the hearts of the members. Now, on to the track.
“The World in Colour”
The lyrics seem to paint an extremely bleak picture of what it is to feel alone and doubtful. We deal with an underlying theme of hurt that is not necessarily apparent to the outside world, but is instead an internal dialogue of one’s own denial in an ability to perceive what is so desperately craved; feeling.
Our vocalist Landon Kirk provides an impressive performance in his delivery of some killer high notes alongside some beautiful melodies. The guitar (played by Lachlan Monty) is compelling and manages to provide a solid ground for the song to stand on through rather simple progressions. The bass (played by Zac Noble) follows suit, never straying too far from the routine and in so doing – or rather, not doing – it provides a sweet backbone for the audio.
However, Bad/Love have utilised these seemingly uncomplicated chords and changes in such a way that they are complemented by a multiplicity of flourishes present throughout our listening experience. There is a recurring synth throughout that adds a dash of mysticism to the track. There is a tactile use of synth melodies throughout which emphasise critical elements of the song, such as stripped back parts focusing on vocals.
Yet, this use of synth balances with the tone and theme of the music in such a way that it comes through as an ambient addition without droning on to become overbearing as can sometimes be the case if the synth is used liberally within heavier styles of music. The airy strokes evoke an ethereal mentality that is only further supported by the fantastically exciting shots provided in the video.
The drums, I’d expect nothing less than “Oh hell yeah” level from Luke Weber. There are some solid drum fills going on throughout and I feel the straight forward layout of the song leaves a wide array of directions for the band to go instrumentally.
Finally, the Marcus Bridge feature. A key highlight of this song comes towards the end wherein the video we see Bridge scanning the walls glitching in and out of the screen. Bridge delivers a tonally powerful and complementary performance to the instrumentation of the song and vocals of Kirk. A substantial feature, to say the least, we get to see two obviously talented singers bouncing off each other.
The progress of Bad/Love will be an exciting timeline to follow as they deliver more and more to what is undoubtedly going to be a dedicated fanbase of listeners. Bad/Love is another notch on the extensive repertoire of an experienced group of musicians.
SIOIS is releasing July 5th and an EP release show is scheduled for Saturday, August 3rd at Max Watt’s House of Music. Pre-order your copy of SIOIS at the link below.
https://artistfirst.com.au/collections/bad-love
