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Grungy punk rockers, Bad Juju have pumped out some seriously good tunes with their sophomore Ep ‘You’re Not Alone’ released earlier this month. This EP runs circles around your brain, or maybe it’s just the fact I’ve had it on repeat all week. Anyways, “Let’s Talk” about the emotional gravity that is ‘You’re Not Alone’, see what I did there!
For starters before we get down and dirty with Bad Juju’s ‘You’re Not Alone’ Ep, I just want to say it’s impressive having seven, YES SEVEN TRACKS LISTED! Compared to the usual four-five tracks. Bravo lads *clapping* you were clearly very busy in the studio.
Three absolute stand out tracks on this EP that we will be reviewing today are ‘Disappoint’, ‘Let’s Talk’ and ‘Dawn’.
‘Disappoint’ low key f*cking hurts to listen to. It’s emotionally packed, the lyrics are deep, and as a listener you feel this song right down to your core. ‘Disappoint’ is a very loaded word, and just reminds me of when your parents say “we’re not mad, we’re just disappointed”, which hurts way more just for the record! Bad Juju’s shared an explanation of the song on Instagram one month after releasing it as a single, they said “Disappoint is about the guilt and the grief experienced when someone close to you loses their battle with depression… Let’s do our best to look after the people in our lives and refuse to accept a world where people can feel so lost and isolated. You are important. You’re Not Alone”- @badjujuaus.
‘Disappoint’ is a really strong song to open with and set the tone of the whole EP. Lyrically it reminds me of Linkin Park’s song ‘One More Light’, which includes the chorus “who cares if one more light goes out, I do”. No wonder ‘Disappoint’ reminds me so much of ‘One More Light’, as both raise awareness of mental illness. I think Bad Juju’s EP will really resonate with a lot of people. Musically, ‘Disappoint’ has a lot of elements going on in perfect sync, you can hear everyone in the band playing, it feels like a very “present” song, in the way you live it in the moment.
So, ‘Let’s Talk’ about the next stunner of a song on Bad JuJu’s new Ep, get it, “Let’s Talk” is a single title haha, it’s just soo easy to slip into sentences! I couldn’t help myself haha. ‘Let’s Talk’ sounds like the fun, bouncy and catchier track off the EP, even though it sits more on the pop-punk side of the musical genre shelf. That being said, this song is fun to sing the opening first verse and chorus, the guitars in this track make it high energy with great bounce! “Let’s Talk” has some serious Neck Deep ‘All Distortions Are Intentional’ and late Trophy Eyes vibes to it, its light pop-punk with those dark depressing ‘what an absolute bummer!’ lyrics. I love how this track incorporates those heavy grungy vocals as well with the lyrics ‘all I wanna do is shout!’ and ‘where were you when I needed you?!’.
Lastly, I want to talk about the lyrically powerful track ‘Dawn’. This song I feel most audibly resembles the cover art of the blood moon and the hand rescuing the other hand from the demon-zombies pulling them under. This song builds up really intensely until that chorus hits with “my friend, can you hear me? I get lonely in the night, it’s where my dark thoughts come to life… do you get lonely? Cause I get lonely too? I get lonely in the night, it’s where my mistakes come to life”. 'Dawn’ is one of the more stronger songs on this EP alongside ‘Disappoint’, these songs touch on tough themes of grief and loneliness, this creates an emotional connection for fans to gravitate to and sympathise with.
All in all, Bad Juju’s ‘You’re Not Alone’ EP is great and doesn’t get boring or expire after having in on constant repeat all week (oops! sorry, not sorry Spotify). The EP raises awareness on some pretty heavy themes with mental illness, including grief, loneliness and a hint of frustration and anger in the lyrics. ‘You’re Not Alone’ is one of the best EP’s that has come out in 2020, I hope Bad Juju’s tour, their musical vibe is incredible and would be amazing to see them live in action.
One last thing I do want to say, as this EP touches on some sensitive issues and although music is a powerful tool and healing mechanism, make sure you check up on your friends and family to see if they are doing alright in life, and let them know they have a support system of people who love and care for them.
Bad Juju’s Ep ‘You’re Not Alone’ is out right now! Check it out!
FFO: Mayday Parade, Trophy Eyes, Dream On Dreamer, Columbus
BAD JUJU’S are
Russell Holland VOCALS
Abe Miller GUITARS
Armarin Saengsri GUITARS
Matthew Nichols BASS
Drue Herring DRUMS
YOU’RE NOT ALONE track-listing
1. Disappoint
2. Sirens
3. Picture Us
4. Dawn
5. Say It
6. Let’s talk
7. Watch Me Fall
#moodymusic #moodymusicblog #moodymusicblogau #music #blog #blogger #grunge #punk #rock #punkrock #grungerock #badjuju #yourenotalone #melbournemusic #aussiemusic Sat 19 SEPT 2020