BAD DAY DOWN are:
Ben (b1) - Vocals / Guitar, Ben (b2) - Bass / Vocals, Sean - Drums, Tommy - Guitar / Vocals
OFFICIAL WEBSITE:
REVIEWS:
Interpretation Zine [Russia]
Death Before Dishonour #5
HardcoreSounds [Finland]
Rave - Issue #774
Blunt - Issue #56
Bombshell Zine
Thrill House Zine - Issue #4
The Dwarf
PEE #38
somethingFM
The Bunyip
www.baddaydown.com |
www.myspace.com
BAD DAY DOWN - If This Is How It Has To Be
Bad Day Down plays at their record “If This Is How It Has To Be” music which can make you feel fun and forget about problems which borrow you. But it is enough to read lyrics of the band and you’ll understand that the problems don’t go away. Music of Bad Day Down is an awesome sounding melodic punk in the vein of No Idea Records (someone calls this musical style “modern punk”) and lyric of the band is good and literate texts on social and political topics and other topics which are actual for hardcore/punk. It is hard to say that Bad Day Down is an Australian band, though all members live in Brisbane. There are two Australians, one American and one Pomeranian.
BAD DAY DOWN - If This Is How It Has To Be
Bad Day Down is an awe-inspiring Australian punk band, and although the boys reside in the sunny state of Queensland, BDD is actually made up of an American, an Engishman and two Aussie lads. Regardless of their 50% international background, BDD are just four friends playing their passionate, energetic, politically and socially charged music. Since late 2003 the boys have been constantly touring and delivering their in your face tunes to an ever growing fan base, If This Is How It Has To Be continues the vision that their debut Biting The Hand That Feeds began.
From the opening hook of 'Haditha: Democracy Assinated The Family Here', to the closing track entitled '15 Secoonds Of Lame' Bad Day Down make their way through an album of technical punk tracks with inspirational and thought provoking lyrics, never slowing down once. It is only a matter of time before BDD are making their mark on audiences abroad, so grab the cd, catch a show, and support a true original Aussie punk band.
This CD is a must for fans of: Propagandhi, Boysetsfire, and Bigwig. Stand out tracks include: ''Australian' Is A State Of Mind', 'The Half Of It', 'Deus Ex Machina', and '$5 Punk Haircuts'.
"Put up your own website, print your own fanzine. Start a band, start a revolution. Something's got to give."
4.5 / 5
Brad Fulton
BAD DAY DOWN - If This Is How It Has To Be
Bad Day Down, some of Australia´s finest, have released their second album and it's all about fast-paced punk right up to the critical 27 minute mark.
Bad Day Down is best suited for fans of NOFX, Bad Religion, Strike Anywhere etc. The Brisbane-based band proves to be excellent in criticising our modern world and bringing out some of the major points that are wrong about it. You can´t fool these guys with any corporate bullshit or political hypocrisy. No Sir, they´re gonna set things straight. They have a point or an issue to deal with in every song, in every sentence, in every breath. The music is fast, dynamic and catchy. So what else can you ask for a CD like this?
These guys aren't wet behind the ears and that can be heard from the opening seconds of the album. They're for real - plain and simple. “If this is how it has to be” is absolutely a great punk CD and the moment you reach that 27 minute mark, all you can really do is spin it again. So it´s all about the music, about making a point and everything else is just not important anyway. The production is clear as a bell so you´ll find this very easy on your ears. The band will gain a lot of critical acclaim for this CD, no doubt. You want punk, you got it. So take it or leave it.
4.5 / 5
Review By: Hell16
BAD DAY DOWN - If This Is How It Has To Be
Who Goes There?: Brisbane locals playing expertly crafted, crisp, punk rock; an excellent circle-pit waiting to happen and political momentum in-the-making.
How Goes It?: Okay kids this is why you haven't heard the last from Bad Day Down. Teeming with sub-two minute pearlers, their debut If This Is How It Has To Be must be one of tthe best things to come out of the Australian punk scene since Frenzal Rhomb made records that got them on the TV. Scathing and revolutionary, the fifteen tracks are carried by intermittent vocal harmonies and a perfect balance between instrumental speed and fluency.
4 Stars
Chris Driver
BAD DAY DOWN - If This Is How It Has To Be
Another Pee Records classic and another Aussie band stepping up to the state-of-the-world chagrin charged plate. Bad Day Down are straight-up punk rock, built off that all-too familiar sound from the glory days of the '90s, but there's something decidedly modern about their resonance. You could call them Australia's Propagandhi / Rise Against, but I'd prefer to call them Australia's great punk hope. If This Is How It Has To Be is catchy, passionate, affable and most importantly, uniquely Australian in message and sound., there are 15 tracks in all, though some so short I'd prefer to call it a solid 12 or
13. Still, it does look impressive when perusing the listing on the back. If you like your political messages hard and fast and your punk rock passionate and decidedly Aussie, Bad Day Down is exactly what you are looking for.
8 / 10
SF
BAD DAY DOWN - If This Is How It Has To Be
This cracker has been out for a while now, so you've probably heard a track or two doing the rounds, Brisbane lads playing solid fast anthemic punk rock, with meaning and thought in their lyrics. 15 tracks to bide you over including what i think was the best punk song of last year by an aussie act 'Australian Is A State Of Mind'. One to crack open the lyric book and read along, you might learn something.
BAD DAY DOWN - If This Is How It Has To Be
This is punk rock at it's best; fast and catchy tracks, lots of political lyrics, rough as guts vocals and none of that fashion bullshit, just jeans and a t-shirt Aussie punk.
The album opens with 'Haditha: Democracy Assassinated The Family Here', a bloody catchy track with prominent drums and bass. It's a track about war and the lyrics are about different battle victims. After all of the horrible accounts, the track closes with the lyric "But I guess that's what hapens when we vote with our wallets. We care more about our interest rates than the people of this world". This is one of my favourite lyrics from the album as it seems really relevant to the current times and a great observation.
Most of the songs are strongly political and overtly left-wing, but there are a few funny ones that depict the current music scene like $5 Punk Haircuts' which picks apart everything bad about the kids and the music and finishes with the line "You can fight dance your way back home, and start moshing like the good old days"
Having three vocalists makes the music a lot more powerful and having a great lyricist is a great asset.
Favourite tracks for me would have to be 'H: DATFH', 'Australian Is A State Of Mind' and 'One For The Money'.
This LP is a great all rounder and one of my favourite Aussie releases of the year.
4 / 5
Tom
BAD DAY DOWN - If This Is How It Has To Be
Bad Day Down is an international hardcore punk band based in Australia and who’s associated with Pee Records. With an American, an Englishman and two Aussies they have a great sound but seem to have something missing.
From the first song, the meaningful lyrics populate the album. The anti-war themes are plentiful in most of the album and the old fashion punk/rock attitude is still strong between the band. It is evident that they have spent a lot of time perfecting the lyrics and they have done a great job and many times during the album I couldn’t help but thinking that they could be the next Midnight Oil?
The in your face style really does dividends in the album, there is a great atmosphere established in the songs and really makes you think about the lyrics. Although they sound off pretty well, there is something that is missing and I couldn’t put my finger on it until half way through the album. Their vocalist seems to be monotone which can really hurt a band or make them into a hit. It seems that although they are a good band, they could be better if they worked on the vocals and drumming. But with the old school punk mixed with political issues, this band has the potential to be a great Australian band.
BAD DAY DOWN - If This Is How It Has To Be
Someone recently said to me at a show that melodic fast paced punk rock will make a return in a big way, emerging through the mass of trend and style accompanying popular genres so dominant at the moment. I agreed then and now this all-mighty release from Pee Records cements my agreement - straight up, this release from Brissie’s Bad Day Down is a real gem, a must have, an essential part of any hardcore punk cd collection…. Need I say more? Featuring 15 awesome political and social hardcore punk anthems, ‘If This Is How It Has To Be’ is very comparable in style and sound to bands such as Good Riddance, Avail, Big Wig and Propagandhi. Beginning with the track ‘Haditha: Democracy Assassinated The Family Tree’, lyrically as strong and assertive as any politically charged punk track you’ll ever hear, and damn additive musically… setting the tone for the remaining 14 tracks. The more impressive and influential tracks are; ‘Australian Is A State Of Mind’, ‘The Half Of It’, ‘Happy Iraqis And Michael Jackson’, ‘Deus Ex Machina’ and ‘$5 Punk Haircuts’… all lyrical and musical punk masterpieces. Tackling everything from Politicians, “popular” punk hairstyles to social elite scum, Bad Day Down have superbly revived straightforward honest and assertive punk rock as it was and is meant to be played, no styles, no trends, no parasites and definitely no bullshit. Recorded at Black Box Recording Studios in Brisbane and mastered in Fort Collins, Colorado by Jason Livermore at The Blasting Room Studios (Rise Against, Anti Flag, NOFX, Propagandhi), ‘If This Is How It Has To Be’ reeks of early punk and hardcore influences yet with perfect modern production able to take it to any new popular trend-setting release on any major label. I have always respected and admired Pete Pees taste and manner in selecting the bands he chooses for Pee Records and you can be guaranteed there wont be one mediocre one amongst them, Bad Day Down is proof once again of his meticulous planning and scoping of potential Pee artists. There is no other way fitting to end this review other than quote but one memorable line from a track on this here amazing release – ‘Put Up Your Own Website / Print Your Own Fanzine / Start A Band / Start A Revolution / Something’s Gotta Give…’. Take heed and prepare to be influenced and infected by the confronting, politically and socially charged Bad Day Down.
RATING: 100
REVIEW BY: John MEANtime
BAD DAY DOWN - If This Is How It Has To Be
Finally!! Punk that wasn't made in the 70's/80's and isn't garbage!
First off, i loved Bad Day Down. In all honesty i feel i could almost stop the review here, post a link to their site/myspace, and force you to check them out on your own. Seriously, great stuff. I mean, in this modern age when any band on Video Hits with a guitar, gets called punk (or emo, which even then, emo used to be about something, but not now, not now), you start to, at times, wonder whether its all worth it. Wonder whether you even use words like punk, n case people ust mentally assume you mean you listen to sum 41/ blink 182 or "random word"-"random number". And you can't call a hardcore punk band, hardcore, without people asuming that means its exactly like Hatebreed. But this review isnt about me bitching about genres and peoples clear foolishness. This is about Bad Day Down.
Firsty, I'll just rip through the track list, so you see for yourself, that even at the most base level, these guys clearly have something to say:
"Haditha: Democracy Assassinated the Family Here" "Australian Is A State Of Mind" "You [Also] Don't Have To Ride Jim Crow" "Happy Iraqis and Michael Jackson" "$5 Punk Haircuts"
Just a random sampling there for you. From the state of the nation and the people in it, to the stupid haircuts floating around nowadays, Bad Day Down cover it all, with a hard riff and a fiery voice making it all the more captivating. I listened to this album three times in a row without pause. And it had my attention for every single song, every run through.
For those of you who like your punk genuinely agressive, with a meaning, and with a hardcore edge (actual hardcore, not Hatebreed. Look it up. Shit!) Then i would recommend that you pay attention to Bad Day Down's "If This Is How It Has To Be".
A solid release that i will come back to again and again.
Written by Ringo
Rating (out of 100): 90
BAD DAY DOWN - If This Is How It Has To Be
Queensland punk rock quartet Bad Day Down’s second full-length album (and first for Adelaide-based Pee Records) is a vast improvement over the debut recording Biting The Hand That Feeds.
If This Is How It Has To Be benefits from improved songwriting, stronger production and a far more aggressive and passionate approach to the 15 songs on offer.
Opening track Haditha: Democracy Killed The Family That Lived Here is a scorching introduction, taking aim at the current war in the middle east. It’s also one of the catchiest songs on offer, with the hand-clap fuelled chorus a highlight.
‘Australian’ Is A State Of Mind, Biting The Hand That Feeds, A Better Reason To Wear Black and Happy Iraqis And Michael Jackson are also standouts.
Breaking up the melodic punk tracks are blisteringly fast tracks in the vein of Bigwig such as A Specious Argument To Put Things In Perspective, You (Also) Don’t Have To Ride Jim Crow and This Song Is Angry But Not Political.
This variation gives the album a nice balance and great cohesiveness across the 28-minutes of music on If This Is How It Has To Be.
Bad Day Down is one of the best punk bands Australia has to offer and fans of mid-90s Epitaph Records releases, Adelaide outfit Stolen Youth and Bigwig need to get their hands on a copy of this brilliant album.
If This Is How It Has To Be is available from October 7th through www.peerecords.com . Bad Day Down is also performing a free show at Crown And Anchor hotel on Friday, October 13 and performing at the Hand Picked Festival (Loxton) on Saturday, October 14.
