Anger is an energy. But so is hope. And the latter is the one that powers L.A. punk foursome Bad Cop Bad Cop’s third studio album The Ride. But don’t think for a second that they’ve gone soft. The women of this fearsome Fat Wreck foursome will still kick your ass with their pit-ready beats, buzzsaw riffs, chiming licks and anthemic singalong choruses — not to mention songs that deal with everything from addiction to breast cancer to ICE agents. The only difference is that this time, after kicking your ass, they’ll help you up, ask how you’re doing, and talk to you about how to care for yourself find a path toward a better tomorrow. Fuck living well — when it’s all said and done, living happily might really be the best revenge in these dark times.
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Bad Cop Bad Cop has done angry. The band’s 2017 full-length, Warriors, was recorded in the aftermath of the 2016 presidential election. The Los Angeles quartet’s new full-length, The Ride, shows what happens when you come out the other side of that anger. “It’s not that I am just stoked or blind to suffering,” says singer-guitarist Jennie Cotterill. “I think anger is a legitimate and understandable reaction to injustice and wrongdoing. It’s just that for myself, I am trying to move past ‘reaction’ into productive ‘response.’ ” The message BCBC is sending this time around is less about wagging your finger at others, or giving the middle one to the Man, than it is about self-love and acceptance. “These are political statements — self-love is a huge fucking statement,” affirms singer-guitarist Stacey Dee. “Self-love means putting a fix on the problems at home before trying to fix everything in the world. It’s asking people to find it in themselves to create the life that they really want to have so they’re not in turmoil, so they’re not in a place of stress and sickness.” Stronger in every way aptly describes Bad Cop Bad Cop in 2020. The anger may have taken a back seat on The Ride, but what’s taken its place is even more powerful.”
