“No, we’re not selling sex, but we will make your eardrums wet. It’s the best you’re gonna get with no reprieve.”
Just look at that lyric there. Really take a moment to let it sink in. Are you done? Okay, good.
Bad Cop/Bad Cop don’t pull their punches. They didn’t on their early EPs, and they certainly don’t on Not Sorry, their debut LP. I mean, just go back and re-read that line (taken from the band’s de facto mission statement, “Like, Seriously?”). They haven’t been around for very long, but these boss ladies use this full length to prove that they’re worthy of every ounce of praise that’s been showered upon them.
In thirteen tracks, Bad Cop/Bad Cop cement themselves in the equally sugary and in-your-face sound that they’ve previously established. Failed relationships, both personal and romantic alike, are big subjects on the album (“Anti Love Song,” “Here’s to You,” “Cheers,” “Sugarcane”), but the band also puts some time aside to have fun (“The ‘Wood”) and to take a stance (the aforementioned “Like, Seriously?” and the call-to-arms anthem, “Support”). These songs are full of three part harmonies that can make Greg Graffin and Brett Gurewitz retroactively jealous, and they’re catchy enough that they could easily fit onto any of the early Fat Music comps (it’s fitting, then, that the band is set to appear on the next installment of the series).
It’s cliche to say that it’s not often for a young band to come off this strong and confident on their first album, but in the case of Bad Cop/Bad Cop and Not Sorry it’s the goddamn truth. You better take that seriously.
4 / 5 – Stream it below.
RIYL: Masked Intruder, The Muffs, Bad Religion