Conventional wisdom says pop punk is the province of teenagers, that folks are supposed to give up on catchy hooks and speedy tempos once they're into their mid-twenties.
Bad Moves are here to prove that isn't true. Their second album, 2020's
Untenable, is a truly glorious exercise in amped-up pogo punk, full of tunes that will have nearly anyone bouncing around the room by the time the opening track, "Local Radio," hits the chorus for the first time. However, if most pop punks are lyrically lightweight,
Bad Moves show that the subgenre has room for mature songwriters with crucial things on their mind. Never straining to be serious, the four members of
Bad Moves -- guitarists
David Combs and
Katie Park, bassist
Emma Cleveland, and drummer
Daoud Tyler-Ameen -- sound like adults with plenty on their minds and the ability to speak about it with clarity and intelligence. The inequities of labor are the basis of "Working for Free," the free-floating anxieties that come with American life are eloquently appraised in "Local Radio," passive complicity in the crimes of a larger society is addressed in "Party with the Kids Who Want to Party with You," "Bad Friends" measures the toll of toxic relationships, and "Towards Crescent Park" finds life lessons in the fallout of an ill-advised bender in New Orleans.
Bad Moves write like grown-ups with heart, soul, and a righteous concern about the world around them, and they use that to fuel their music with a joy that's not simpleminded, and instead comes from the desire to make real change. Not unlike
Downtown Boys,
Bad Moves play punk rock that will engage your mind and ignite your conscience while delivering tunes that you'll want to hear again and again. You can't start a revolution with bad music, and
Bad Moves make manning the barricades something to look forward to on
Untenable.