Bad Motivator

Reviews

Bad Motivator The Album LP

If you’ve ever turned up early and caught the local openers before a SUPERSUCKERS show and walked away pleasantly surprised, that’s roughly the territory that BAD MOTIVATOR is working in, and there’s real charm to it. The five-piece out of Los Angeles shares a singer and guitarist with the early ’00s band the TAKEDOWNS, and this record doesn’t stray far from that lineage. Their sound pulls from garage rock, new wave, punk, and a bit of ’70s rock’n’roll, with keyboards worked in tastefully rather than laid on thick. This is their first proper full-length, following an earlier singles collection, and the players clearly have some miles on them, but they move through these songs with plenty of piss and vinegar. Most of the ten tracks land right around the two-minute mark, so nothing overstays its welcome. “Troubled Chances” and “Information Overload” are the standouts for me, and “I Don’t Think I Want To V2” brought the LOAD LEVELERS to mind, maybe because of the vocal twang. This isn’t a masterpiece, but it’s a solid, likable record. Next time I would nudge the guitar just a little higher in the mix.

Bad Motivator / Woolly Bandits split 7″

This is a two-song split with each band leaning in with their best. BAD MOTIVATOR’s is a jerky ’70s punk tune that lyrically pulls you into themes of “turn on, tune in, drop out.” “Information Overload” is budding with nervous energy that keeps you learning forward anxiously for the entire song. The flip with WOOLLY BANDITS caught me completely off guard. With an aural garage attack that blends the fierce lyrics of Christa Collins and the raw guitar energy of Rik Collins. “A.I. Must Die” balances between unharnessed Paisley Underground, a wall of ’60s proto-punk, and a ’70s punk sound, while managing to be on-topic and present. It takes guts to do a two-sider split but this wins. I’m gonna go check their other offerings.

Bad Motivator Not an Album LP

Swampy, fuzzy, KINKS-like rock’n’roll. Seems a little too produced to call it garage music. Tons of energy, for sure, but it seems sort of put-on to me. It’s also got this herky-jerky thing going on that I almost always find annoying. Other than a nice cover of the GUN CLUB’s “Sex Beat,” this is mostly forgettable for me.

Bad Motivator Bad Motivator cassette

Three thrashy garage noise psych tracts that sound like something In The Red would have put out in the early ’00s. I was initially thinking this was the glam-adjacent band BAD MOTIVATOR from Spokane, but this outfit is from Los Angeles and only has a few releases out, leaving me excited for a full-length sometime in the future. Guitar-driven tunes with just the right keyboard accents in the vein of USELESS EATERS and GOGGS. Party tunes for deranged misanthropes.