Bad Moves – Wearing Out The Refrain
★★★★
Released September 13th on Don Giovanni Records
Look, as far as genres go, there are worst bets than power pop. It’s a no-brainer: you just make catchy pop songs and make them very, very loud. The Who are a prime example, of course, but look at the Raspberries, Cheap Trick, and Teenage Fanclub for further information. Bad Moves is very much playing within the genre, but they are stepping up their game through an ancient and honored tactic: turning the volume up to 11 and kicking the amp over.
It’s relentless upbeat music with all of the bounce of the best pop-punk with none of its hangups. It insists upon group singalongs and won’t take no for an answer. The gold standard for power pop in the 20th Century is the New Pornographers, and while Bad Moves don’t have a lineup like AC Newman, Dan Bejar, and Neko Case on hand, they more than hold their own against them. It can stand along something like Mass Romantic or Twin Cinema and not feel embarrassed. If you’re looking for joy in these uncertain times – and a lot of you seem to be, more every day – it’s an album to grab ahold of and not let go.
