Album Review: Stringer – My Bad

Stringer have been now been around in various guises, under several names and with a rotating line up since 2012, over the last few years the band seem to have settled on their current moniker and line up of Max Kagan, Mark Fletcher, Johnny Spencer and Riley Zimmer. Formerly one of the house bands at the legendary, and now sadly closed, Shea Stadium venue they have been working towards the release of the debut album, My Bad, that is now available on hot pink vinyl and digital formats through Wiretap Records.

After the brief Intro that is reminiscent of the Butthole Surfers you get into the meat and bones of My Bad, the first track, USA, delivers an off kilter psych influenced power pop that is delivered with a punk rock attitude that warps into the harder hitting fuzzy post punk of Ghost. My Bad continues to blend indie, punk, psyche, garage and post punk in surprising and unexpected quantities, from the jangly psyche pop of Swimming throughto the Nerf Herder-esque Termites and the full blown freak out of the album’s finale, InFinFly, you never quite know what Stringer are going to throw at you.

My Bad will undoubtedly to appeal to fans of the more left field punk bands, devotees of the likes of Culture Abuse, The Dead Milkmen and Baked will find something to treasure amongst the eclectic and unpredictable grooves of My Bad. Stringer have delivered an unapologetically idiosyncratic album that flits between genres without ever quite settling on one, whilst I’ve mentioned a few bands this is really only a guide as Stringer have produced something strange and offbeat that manages to defy description, something that makes my job a difficult one, all I can say is I’d recommend giving My Bad a listen and making up your own mind.

My Bad is now available via Wiretap Records here and Bandcamp here