The garage rock gods smile kindly upon Denton, Texas. How else to explain the steady output of excellent rock ‘n’ roll from such an unassuming location, lodged in the northern expanses of the Lone Star State? The members of Bad Sports hail from an impressive stable of bands, including but not limited to High Tension Wires, Mind Spiders, and Radioactivity. With such a stellar collective resume, is it any wonder that since 2007, Bad Sports have remained one of the more solid garage rock bands to spring from the Dirtnap Records scene?
Constant Stimulation continues the streak of no-frills garage punk, sounding often like an incarnation of the Jam under the influence of power pop. The fretwork is crisp and energetic, inhabiting center stage as the bass and drums secure a tight, rhythmic fort. The recording boasts a relative cleanliness that separates Bad Sports from the usual lo-fi, blown-out, sonic fingerprint of fellow bands in the genre. The speed doesn’t stray far from mid-tempo, yet the beat retains a vibrancy that keeps the proceedings decidedly punk rock in spirit.
Album highlights include “Don’t Deserve Love,” the poppiest track of the collection and one of its most memorable, as well as “All Revved Up to Kill” with its bouncing beat and loping bass line. “Gains and Losses” is a ’60s-influenced romper in line with the Kinks’ more rocking material.
The fastest track, “Constant Stimulation,” delivers a jolt in the latter half of the album with crackling guitars and brooding bass. The penultimate track, “Cardboard Suits,” opens with a somewhat Joy Division-esque bassline and continues down a more moody ’80s path altering the tone considerably, perhaps at the expense of Constant Stimulation’s energy at the tail end of its running time.
With over ten years in the scene and a handful of albums in the coffers, Bad Sports are still chugging along. Constant Stimulation is another solid release under the Dirtnap Records banner, bringing further pride to the already-stacked Denton punk rock scene.
