Bad Sports were one of my favorite bands in the world in the early ’10s. That run of Bad Sports (2009), Kings Of The Weekend (2011) and Bras (2013). Wow, just wow. Those records tick so many boxes: high energy, catchy songs, awesome guitar work, punk attitude, and everything played in full overdrive. Constant Stimulation (2018) was a reminder of the band’s awesomeness, as well as a step toward a broader, more ambitious rock sound, a road already hinted at on the 2016 mini-album Living With Secrets.

I’m not stalling before talking about the new EP. I just wanted to highlight that Bad Sports have always been a band worth following. Admittedly, though, it has been easy to lose track of them given their sporadic output over the past eight years. In the meantime, the band’s main focus has been on other projects, from acting as Jeff Burke’s super-tight Radioactivity band, to Daniel Fried’s TV’s Daniel Fried, to Orville Neely’s Memo PST and Spiritual Cramp.

But recently, the band entered the domain of television, appearing on Countdown and having a song featured on the Netflix show Tires. Apparently that was enough to get them writing new Bad Sports songs again. Four of those new songs are on the new 12″ (on BS Holdings Incorporated), which also collects the band’s two-song single from 2022.

And you know what? Bad Sports aren’t the same band they were in the early ’10s. But damn it, they’re still one of the most rockin’ bands around, and one look at their latest video will attest: these guys are still some of the coolest around. The songs still have that thing that made me love them in the first place: they make you want to turn the volume up, then turn it up again, just to see what happens.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp