BAD COP / BAD COP • Lighten Up • LP

Fat Wreck Chords
Light blue vinyl = exclusively available from German indie record stores

After the high-speed The Ride (2020), the Los Angeles punk outfit returns with Lighten Up, produced by NOFX’s Fat Mike. It’s a perfect band for fans of melodic SoCal punk with a feminist edge. The four-piece impresses with endless power and energy on stage, including two lead vocalists. Musically, they never stand still, expanding their sound each time.

“Life is hard, but it’s still beautiful. Stop picking the hard shit to look at—look at the beautiful stuff too. Lighten up.”
Lighten Up (Fat Wreck Chords), the fourth album by SoCal punk band Bad Cop / Bad Cop, paints a striking portrait of life’s hard-won victories and losses.

The album was recorded at the Compound in Long Beach, home of seasoned producer Antoine Arvizu (Sublime, Ryan Bingham). The band had already loved working there in 2023, recording the singles “Shattered” and “Safe and Legal” with Arvizu and Migs (Sublime, Slightly Stoopid, Long Beach Dub Allstars).

Bad Cop / Bad Cop stretch their signature melodic punk into unexpected territory, such as the jazzy “Las Ventanas,” the dub-infused “Note to Self,” and “Johnny Appleseed,” a reinterpretation of the Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros classic. After tracking the instruments, the band spent ten intense 12-hour days recording vocals with collaborator John E. Carey Jr. (Old Man Markley, NOFX, Get Dead).

“Vocals were the most important part for us. We really tried everything,” says Dee, adding that Gallarza sang the third harmony for the first time. Lighten Up also benefits from Windsor, an experienced guitarist who not only shreds (for example, at the end of “I4NI”) but whose knowledge of music theory proved invaluable. “Alex’s guitar playing is just fantastic and really elevated our songwriting,” Dee says.

Everything about Lighten Up feels elevated and authentic. “This was the first time we didn’t give a damn about what others were doing or expecting from us. Lighten Up was/is for us,” says Dee. “We had so much fun making it, and we love it so much.”