Appearances can be deceptive, hence the long-held adage to never judge a book by its cover. Case in point Bad Image's latest II, which features a picture of a bullet belt that has one thinking of Motley Crue's Too Fast For Love and bad 80's Heavy Metal as a whole. Fortunately nothing could be further from the truth here as you'll soon find out.
Physical copies of the EP are being distributed by Noise Merchant Records, a not for profit Stourbridge UK Punk/Hardcore based label with a focus on limited run cassettes and a DIY duplication service. These guys have put out some exceptional records by Knife Crime (whose new EP Bare Racket I reviewed for Clean Sheets), Class Tourists and other such artists. As for Bad Image, they are a Seattle based band who formed around 2019 and comprise of Jaedyn Navarrette – Vocals, Matt Nelms - Guitar, Dayton Griggs – Bass and Richie Luna on Drums. Preceding II was the 2023 Tour Tape (which featured two of the tracks from this latest release) and 2022's S/T EP. Seeing as it's been a while since I've reviewed any Hardcore, I'm looking forward to doing so again.
'Waste Away' wastes no time at all with squeals of feedback, battering Drums and barked Vocals. What's so impressive is how tight the whole things sounds, there's even a brief if rather nifty Guitar solo. Even though the band cite Bad Brains as a primary inspiration, sound-wise I was more reminded of Stress Positions and their album Harsh Reality what with the Power Violence vibes, as well as vintage Discharge. This is not a band that fuck about, which is exactly what you want when it comes to Hardcore. A superlative opener. The shortest track on the EP at a mere 59 seconds, 2024 once more sups from the teats of D-Beat godfathers Discharge, both sonically as well as thematically, what with the antiwar sentiments. The Orwellian refrain of war is peace, the notion that its in the state's interest to keep war/wars going is also stressed throughout. There are also noticeable similarities to Husker Du's underrated Everything Falls Apart debut and especially tracks such as 'Punch Drunk' , this makes for a fantastically er, punchy number. 'Spirit of America' is a little thrashier recalling 80's crossover legends such as Corrosion of Conformity, warp speed Blackened Death Metal/Grindcore and mid-paced sections with a groovier Noise-Rock tinge. This showcases Bad Image as an exceptionally talented band with an ability to incorporate a wide range of genres into their sound.
'Real World' tips its hat towards bands such as Antiseen and a more traditional 70's Punk Rock style ala The Ramones. There's a little more 'Rock' sheen here in a manner which may have one thinking of bands such as LA outfit Sweat and there's even a little snotty Adolescents thrown in along the way; in particular the snarling Vocals of Tony Cadena. Its a testament to the band that they manage to acknowledge their influences without ever appearing slavish to them, which is not an easy thing to do these days. Finally there's 'A Piece of Mind' with its dirty Motörhead vibes and gloriously intentional sloppy Plasmatics sound, all we need now is Wendy O Williams (RIP) and her chainsaw. This affords for a supremely fun conclusion to the record.
A sign of whether an album has left any marked impact on the listener is by how many times its played and with II I've pretty much had it on repeat despite being a newcomer to the band. Absolutely outstanding.
Heavy salad baby