Essential release alert! At least if you’re in the market for poppy punk rock, or should I say rockin’ pop punk, in the vein of The Ergs, Mikey Erg’s solo work, and Pinhead Gunpowder. Richmond’s Bashful have a fantastic new record on their hands.

Fronted by Jake Guralnik (Hold Tight!, Bat Boy), alongside Cory Chubb (Sundials, Bat Boy), James Goodson (Dazy), and Alex Wilhelm (Hold Tight!, L’amour), Bashful sound incredibly locked in across these ten songs. They’re the kind of band that trims every ounce of fat, gets to the hook in record time, and somehow keeps finding even better ones around the next corner. In the hands of Guralnik and his buddies, the lines between verse, pre-chorus, chorus, and bridge become delightfully blurry. Before you’ve finished replaying your new favorite song in your head, the next one has already claimed the title.

What’s especially impressive is how fresh Bashful make such familiar ingredients sound. Palm-muted guitars, stacked harmonies, gang vocals, octave leads, and melodies that seem genetically engineered for shout-alongs are all present and accounted for. Yet ‘Til It Makes You Sick never feels like a nostalgia exercise. It feels alive. It makes me want to run through a wall. Preferably one with a Bashful show on the other side.

As if that weren’t enough, the LP also includes Bashful’s 2020 album on the B-side. Two records for the price of one is always a winning formula, but either side would have been worth the asking price on its own.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp