
Bad Breeding from Stevenage return with their second LP in less than a year. In that time the world has become a melting pot of hate, absurdity and on the brink of destruction and Bad Breeding have made a record that sums up these dark, dense and claustrophobic times. Once again the relentless rhythm section drives the sound with guitar work that is squealing and immense alongside vocals that spit bile and razor-sharp lyrics. Standouts include The More the Merrier - which sounds like prime Icons of Filth from 1985 whilst last track Endless Impossibility is a five-minute-plus dirge that hits hard like Killing Joke but with more noise and chaos. On Divide Bad Breeding have upped the intensity and made an even stronger album. Rather than being self-released, they have now joined La Vida Es un Mus in Europe and Iron Lung in the States.
Our take: Much-anticipated second LP from this killer band from the UK. Their first one was a total enigma⌠it seemed to come out of nowhere, and before I could really get a handle on it everyone had snapped up the copies that we got in the store, so I feel like I never really got to live with that record in the way that I wanted to. However, Iâve been full-on feasting on this new one. I guess the big questionâas it is for just about any sophomore effortâis, âis it as good as the first one?â This has been the subject of a lot of conversation around the shop, and while most people seem to prefer the first one, as of right now Iâm coming down pretty hard on the side of Divide. I mean, sonically speaking, not much has really changed. Bad Breeding still sound like hardcore thatâs gleefully unaware of all of the genreâs cliches. Itâs basically heavy, intense music that sounds like it was made by people who either arenât steeped enough in the genreâs conventions to be influenced by them, or theyâre so talented that theyâre able to avoid those conventions. As a result, thereâs a sense of freshness to Bad Breeding that very few bands have. And that freshness doesnât just come from sounding like an old record that still sounds fresh, but rather just because it seems like Bad Breeding is doing something genuinely new. What is that thing? I mean, basically it seems like itâs taking the more experimental end of anarcho-punkâstuff like Flux of Pink Indians and Crass at their slightly more out-there moments (though thankfully Bad Breeding never copy any Penny Rimbaud beats, which can be a little too on the nose for my tastes)âand make it way heavier, infusing it with a big and burly guitar sound thatâs sort of like Killing Joke playing through some heavy AmRep bandâs equipment. Anyway, thereâs no reason why you wouldnât love Divide if you loved the first album, but I think that this one benefits from a little more concision and focus. Itâs the kind record that can appeal to you if youâre a die-hard hardcore person, or if you just like weird and experimental music⌠if you took my recommendation on the great Housewives 12â from a while back, I could see this catching your ear in much the same way. Any way you slice it, though, Bad Breeding is one of the best bands going and this is a total must-hear record.