Kings- Cat's Cradle Presents

The bastard child of a Ramones/Strokes one night stand, Bad Nerves play ferociously fast distorted pop songs and drew acclaim with their previous releases ‘Dreaming’, ‘Baby Drummer’, & ‘Can’t Be Mine’. It would appear to be in the DNA of rock music, particularly punk music, that the music itself happens by some kind of happy accident. Nothing truer could be said of the Essex five piece speed punk band. For frontman Bobby, the formation of the band itself was an unintentional happenstance that just wound up taking off in unexpected but very exciting directions. Did band life choose Bad Nerves or did Bad Nerves choose band life? It's hard to say.

On the eve of releasing their second album, the brilliantly titled Still Nervous, the boys are still reeling from their surprise success. Their self-made, self-funded debut put them in the hearts and minds of the cream of the alternative crop in 2020; from tastemakers such as Dan P Carter to Alyx Holcombe, and from peers like Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong to Pearl Jam's Stone Gossard, Bad Nerves were instantaneously heralded with the poisoned chalice of saviours of a type of punk that promises to never die. They’ve toured with Royal Blood and The Darkness, and have drawn comparisons to Supergrass, the Ramones and Jay Reatard. And despite all that, their pop rock is a unique – and very fast – whack over the head that reminds us all of the future life left in hell-raising loud and fast music.

Speaking from his dad's garage-come-studio in Colchester, frontman Bobby recounts how he and bandmate Will had always played in bands. By chance of a random text at the end of 2015 (“let's do a band!”), Bobby relented once more unto the breach. “Seems like a terrible idea,” he recalls. “Really?! Another band?!” However with “nothing else to do”, it became the only choice. Bad Nerves began to write songs, and promised to never play live, but the songs were so much fun they were forced to reconsider. The only challenge was the pace of said songs. “Finding a drummer was a nightmare,” he laughs. 

But what started off as a laugh has now become a fated mission. Gone is the blasé motivation, now Bad Nerves are laser-focused on this being the best thing they've ever done. “It feels like this is the main thing that any of us will do in our lives,” says Bobby. “If we're remembered for anything…” Given that rock doesn't have as much of a look-in on the air and in the press, Bad Nerves feel a calling to try and revive rock from the rust.

Their second LP, Still Nervous, is due for release Spring 2024. Did they feel pressure approaching the sophomore slump, so to speak? Not at all. The process was more or less the same; Bobby demoing the tracks in his dad's garage, and then the band re-recording everything “properly” with their friend Mike Curtis. The only difference was in trying to ensure that they were still writing for themselves, and not just to satiate their new audience. “When I write songs thinking about what people expect I end up mimicking the first record, but not well,” says Bobby. That internal battle was new, but Bobby quickly realised you can't write like that, and in the process of being “pissed off trying to write a Bad Nerves song”, he found some of the best tracks on the album, doing whatever he wanted.

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Recorded under a loft bed in the guest bedroom of his Nashville home, Michael Ruth aka Rich Ruth’s I Survived, It’s Over starts in a humble space. And while many contemporary music projects are produced in such an environment, I Survived, It’s Over sets itself apart in its transformative properties as well as its transparency

What we have here is honest sound exploration, session musician-level instrumentation, and a true love for nature run through the fingers of a dude who can channel some acute and undeniable magic.

This music goes deep.

“I conceived much of this record amidst the quiet and tumult of 2020 in my neighborhood that had recently been ravaged by a tornado,” Ruth recalls, “I spent most of my days working on these pieces between bicycle rides – watching the beautiful Tennessee ecosystem flourish in Shelby Park, listening to Keith Jarrett’s The Koln Concert and John Coltrane’s Ascension.”

Underneath the swell of the strings and the shredding of the guitars, this record has hard working, rustbelt, drum-heavy roots all over it (which makes sense as Ruth hails from outside of Toledo, the album was mixed by John McEntire from Chicago band Tortoise). Many of the flutes, saxophones, pedal steel, and other instruments were recorded remotely because we live in the future, but this only adds to the collage of sampled and sample-able material that Rich Ruth has to offer. The organic relationships between the artist and other musicians on the album is evident even in the compilation style sampling that needs to occur in putting such a project together.

“Working on this music is a daily meditation,” says Ruth. “I constantly experiment with sound until it reflects the way I am feeling and attempt to sculpt something meaningful from it. Through years of being a touring musician, it is a constant inspiration and privilege to collaborate with the individuals that graced this record with their voices.”

And those relationships pay off, because I Survived, It’s Over is a sonic meal. It’s rich (no pun intended) with massive instrumentation that’s usually reserved for more symphonic delights. But at the same time it’s simple and leaves space to breathe–space you didn’t know you needed.

In his own words; “I Survived, It’s Over is a meditation on healing, confronting trauma, surrendering, and finding peace. I wanted to encapsulate the tranquility and disarray found within this process.”

Ruth’s heart and the peace that his presence produces is all over this album. And despite his midwestern humility and willingness to brush off any praise, he’s put together something really special that carries its own weight. It’s the kind of record that only comes around every once in a while and it’s worthy of all the head-bobs, acclaim, and celebratory potlucks that Mike and the gang have coming their way. – Mic Fox, 2022

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