The Lovely Bad Things Explained

The Lovely Bad Things
Origin:La Mirada, California, U.S.
Genre:Punk rock, indie rock, pop punk
Years Active:2009–present
Current Members:Camron Ward
Brayden Ward
Lauren Curtius
Tim Hatch
Website:www.thelovelybadthings.com

The Lovely Bad Things are an American indie rock band from La Mirada, California. Formed in 2009, the group consists of brothers Camron and Brayden Ward, Tim Hatch and Lauren Curtius. All members are multi-instrumentalists and play guitar, bass and drums. They are known for switching between instruments often during live performances. Their garage rock sound[1] has been called everything from proto-punk to surf punk. Chris Martins[2] of Spin magazine online wrote, "If Pixies were Los Angeles surf punks instead of Boston smartypantses, they might've sounded a lot like the Lovely Bad Things."[3] The band's personal influences include Sonic Youth, Modest Mouse, Dinosaur Jr, the B-52's, The Wipers, and Redd Kross.

History

[4] The Lovely Bad Things formed in October 2009 after Camron and Brayden Ward's band had broken up. They paired up with longtime friends Lauren Curtius and Tim Hatch who were also between bands. The band's name was derived from the Mary Downing Hahn book "All The Lovely Bad Ones" and a computer glitch or typo. Camron Ward explains in a 2011 OC Weekly interview with Taylor Hamby:[5] I was at Borders (Books), rest in peace, and I walked over to the children's section. There were all these Halloween books out, and there was one called All the Lovely Bad Ones. It's about ghosts -we all really should read it at some point— and we were all sitting on the porch, and we were like, "We need to think of a name," and I said, "Well, I really liked this book. It might be a good band name." They were like, "Yeah, that's cool." All of our old recordings were done on a video camera, and we just ripped the audio off the video. [When we uploaded the video], the folder on the computer was titled Lovely Bad Things.

Deeply involved in the DIY music movement, the group has played in small and large venues and when no gigs were available created house shows at their rehearsal garage space they named[6] The Lovely Bad Pad. The first songs, all reflecting a raw surf punk / punk sound, like Kevin, Cocaine Werewolf Super Awesome Fun Time, Ugly Kids and Cult Life, were written quickly[7] and would eventually end up on their first cassette offering entitled Shark Week which was first released (Dec. 2010) on the now defunct UVR label[8] and then later picked up by Burger Records. That same year they would share the stage with bands such as Screaming Females, Audacity, The So So Glos, The Garden, La Sera, and Ty Segall and (in 2011) lent tour support for[9] Peter Bjorn and John (All You Can Eat Tour).

In July 2011, their EP New Ghost / Old Waves was released on Cassette though Burger Records and on November 18, 2011 the band signed with Volcom Entertainment[10] who released New Ghost / Old Waves digitally and on Vinyl March 9, 2012. The 7 song EP is described as diverse "jangly beach- pop", "surf, Riot Grrrl, punk and indie" with harmonies and fast past guitar driven songs.[11] Lyrically, songs like "I Just Want You to Go Away" and "You Done Messed Up" are steeped in youthful angst.[12] On Jan 3rd of 2012, Kai Flanders of the LA Weekly names New Ghost / Old Waves in the Top 5 L.A. Punk Albums of 2011.[13] and the same year, their track "I Just Want You to Go Away" was featured on MTV's Awkward TV series.[14]

On April 27, 2012, the band was added to the roster of artists playing the prestigious Primavera SoundMusic Festival[15] in Barcelona, Spain. Unable to afford to go, the band took to crowd funding through Indiegogo[16] as well as playing fund raising shows. 2012 had the band share stages with the likes of King Tuff, Zig Zags, Shannon and the Clams, TRMRS, The Summer Twins and lent tour support for The Cribs[17] and Los Campesinos.[18]

The band started recording the songs for their 3rd release and first label released full length in mid 2012 at Jonny Bell's (from Crystal Antlers) studio in Long Beach, California. The album was engineered and produced by "Sloppy" Jon B. Gilberts who also produced and engineered New Ghosts / Old Waves.[19] "The Late Great Whatever" was released on Feb. 26, 2013 through Volcom Entertainment. From the first song,[20] Hear or Anywhere with its prog punk aesthetic and pop heart to the final 12th song Styx and Branches it is considered to be a furious and infectious garage rock album that draws inspiration from psychedelic surf and punk. The album is also decidedly more heavy and hardcore than New Ghost / Old waves says Brayden Ward, “When people listened to it, we wanted it to feel like how it felt when we were writing it and what it felt like when we were writing it was that it was just a little bit dark, and not brooding, black and noir, just a little darker than New Ghost/Old Waves.”[21]

On April 17, 2013, the band opened up for the legendary Dinosaur Jr,[22] fulfilling a dream of Camron Ward's, stating on stage,[23] "I don't mean to get all mushy or anything... (but) when I was 13 I set the goal, the only thing I ever wanted to do was play with Dinosaur Jr." The Lovely Bad Things finished out the year on tour with Diarrhea Planet and Best Coast.[24]

Releases

On compilations

Other media

Charts

Festivals

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Ears Wide Open: The Lovely Bad Things. Buzzbands.com. 5 January 2012.
  2. Web site: Hear the Lovely Bad Things' Surf-Spackled, Pixies-Informed 'Fried Eyes'. Spin.com. 10 January 2013.
  3. https://web.archive.org/web/20140311024123/http://sweetteapumpkinpie.com/2013/03/07/the-lovely-bad-things/
  4. Web site: De Maio. Danny. Featured Musician: The Lovely Bad Things. Bangstyle.com. 9 March 2014.
  5. Web site: The Lovely Bad Things Are Good Company - - Music - Orange County - OC Weekly . Ocweekly.com . dead . https://archive.today/20140316091327/http://www.ocweekly.com/2011-12-01/music/locals-only-lovely-bad-things/full/ . 2014-03-16.
  6. https://web.archive.org/web/20130305124648/http://lo-pie.com/interview-the-lovely-bad-things/
  7. Web site: LOVELY BAD THINGS First Avenue . first-avenue.com . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130313120009/http://first-avenue.com/performer/lovely-bad-things . 2013-03-13.
  8. Web site: Ultravivid Recordings . uvrecords.tumblr.com . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140316113154/http://uvrecords.tumblr.com/ . 2014-03-16.
  9. Web site: Peter Bjorn and John GIMME SOME SUPPORT BANDSPeter Bjorn and John . peterbjornandjohn.com . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140310021806/http://peterbjornandjohn.com/blog/2011/08/gimme-some-support-bands/ . 2014-03-10.
  10. Web site: Volcom | Skate, Surf & Swimwear, Snowboarding Clothes & More. Volcom US. 6 June 2023.
  11. Web site: THE LOVELY BAD THINGS – NEW GHOST/OLD WAVES. Larecord.com. 6 June 2023.
  12. Web site: LADYGUNN – The Lovely Bad Things- New Ghost/Old Waves EP. Ladygunn.com. 11 August 2011. 6 June 2023.
  13. Web site: Top 5 L.A. Punk Albums of 2011 West Coast Sound Los Angeles Los Angeles News and Events LA Weekly . Laweekly.com . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140310041715/http://www.laweekly.com/westcoastsound/2012/01/03/top-5-la-punk-albums-of-2011 . 2014-03-10.
  14. Web site: Music from Awkward Episode 3. https://web.archive.org/web/20120906024256/http://soundtrack.mtv.com/post/music-from-awkward-episode-3/. dead. September 6, 2012. 12 July 2012. Soundtrack.mtv.com. 6 June 2023.
  15. Web site: Noticia . 2014-03-11 . 2014-03-11 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140311025141/http://www.primaverasound.com/noticiaSingle?origen=ps&id=395&lang=en . dead .
  16. Web site: Help Lovely Bad Things Get to Primavera Sound!. Indiegogo.com.
  17. Web site: The Cribs Premiere "Glitters Like Gold" Video On Pitchfork || U.S. Tour Starts Next Week, Alex Winston Added As Main Support for NYC Show, Lovely Bad Things Added As Main Support For LA Show | www.tellallyourfriendspr.com . 2014-03-16 . 2014-03-16 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140316112641/http://www.tellallyourfriendspr.com/press/the-cribs-premiere-glitters-like-gold-video-on-pitchfork-us-tour-starts-next-week-alex-winston . dead .
  18. Web site: Los Campesinos! + Lovely Bad Things + Moses Campbell @ the el Rey Theatre. Larecord.com. 2014-03-16. 2014-03-16. https://web.archive.org/web/20140316110317/http://larecord.com/photos/2012/10/20/los-campesinos-lovely-bad-things-moses-campbell-the-el-rey-theatre. dead.
  19. Web site: Stream: The Lovely Bad Things, the Late Great Whatever. Imposemagazine.com . 20 February 2013 .
  20. Web site: The Lovely Bad Things: The Late Great Whatever. Pastemagazine.com. 25 February 2013.
  21. https://web.archive.org/web/20140126085145/http://ieweekly.com/2014/01/music-2/music/turning-heads/
  22. Web site: Dinosaur Jr. at The Glass House (Pomona, CA) on 17 Apr 2013. Last.fm. 6 June 2023.
  23. Web site: - YouTube. YouTube.
  24. Web site: Best Coast Announce Tour, New EP Coming Soon. Pitchfork. 29 May 2013.
  25. Web site: Fried Eyes EP, by Lovely Bad Things. Lovelybadthings.bandcamp.com.
  26. Web site: KXLU Live @ Five 2013-14, by KXLU 88.9FM Los Angeles. Kxlu.bandcamp.com. 6 June 2023.
  27. Web site: Everybody Taste: Mixtape #19: Plastic Brains . Everybodytaste.com . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120202024736/http://www.everybodytaste.com/2012/01/mixtape-plastic-brains.html . 2012-02-02.
  28. Web site: Paste Music - Guides to the Best Albums, Reviews and Live Music Video. Pastemagazine.com.
  29. Web site: Orange County's Lovely Bad Things celebrate local scene USC Annenberg Radio News . Annenbergradio.org . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140316122947/http://www.annenbergradio.org/segments/2013/02/orange-countys-lovely-bad-things-celebrate-local-scene . 2014-03-16.
  30. Web site: - YouTube . https://web.archive.org/web/20130209052124/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjfGIzxdvDQ&gl=US&hl=en . 2013-02-09 . .
  31. Web site: Charts – February 27, 2012 - CJSW - Calgary's Independent Radio 90.9 FM . cjsw.com . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130626114141/http://cjsw.com/music/charts/2012-02-27/ . 2013-06-26.
  32. Web site: Next Big Sound. Nextbigsound.com.
  33. Web site: BAGeL Radio. Facebook.com. 6 June 2023.
  34. https://web.archive.org/web/20140313071817/http://www.artistdirect.com/entertainment-news/article/fyf-2012-f-ed-up-dam-funk-lovely-bad-things-on-l-a-s-most-diverse-fest/0fFD0Rx76Y152
  35. Web site: Lovely Bad Things. SXSW Schedule 2012. 6 June 2023.
  36. https://web.archive.org/web/20130312135249/http://www.pastemagazine.com/blogs/lists/2013/03/100-bands-to-see-at-sxsw-2013.html
  37. Web site: Burgerama III (Day 1) Observatory . Observatoryoc.com . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140105065504/http://www.observatoryoc.com/events/burgerama-day-1 . 2014-01-05.

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