Virginty To Release Third Album “Bad Jazz”

The improvisational spirit of jazz inspired the title and the approach to the third record from Florida power pop darlings, Virginity, specifically, improvisation born out of necessity. Mistakes are inevitable, plans fall through, and the only thing to do is throw some out-of-pocket ideas at the wall and see what sticks. That’s what happened in 2021 when guitarist and lead vocalist Casey Crawford dislocated his leg during the band’s set at Fest on Halloween. Sometimes suffering for your art isn’t a choice. Confronted by an unexpected injury that he saw as a manifestation of his own self-doubt and the precarity of his music career, Casey began to reevaluate his artistic routines and methods, questioning them in the face of uncertainty. Playing through it seemed to be the only option, a strategy that has greatly informed the group’s creative process as they’ve put together their third album, Bad Jazz that is due out on the 28th June via Smartpunk Records. 

Emphasis on “playing.” In order to make that happen, the members of Virginity had to let loose a little bit. The songs on Bad Jazz come from a place of musical tangents, digressions, and what-ifs. A place of realizing that sometimes your best ideas are the ones that started out as jokes. Bad Jazz is about going with your gut, taking the mistakes and running with them, and letting curiosity take the lead. It’s not necessarily an album about fun, but it sure sounds fun, and it sounds like it was fun to make. Casey has said that Bad Jazz is the record where Virginity became, in his words “a real band.” With their first two albums, they proved their ability to make expertly crafted rock songs, many times over. And while they haven’t sacrificed technical skill or songwriting chops on their latest effort, they’ve let go of some of their deep-seated perfectionism in order to make room for some spontaneity, improvisation, and yes, imperfection. The group’s signature spirit, hooks and pop punk angst are as fiery as ever and they’ve learned to let go and embrace the mess.