Bad Nerves’ Self-Titled Album

Thanks to a recent tour announcement by Justin Hawkins (lead singer of The Darkness), I discovered a band called Bad Nerves that’s quickly become my new favorite thing.

They’re a London-based power-pop group with some obvious classic punk and garage rock influences, like if you took the adrenaline-fueled ferocity of The Ramones and swagger of The Buzzcocks, then mixed it with the melodic sensibilities of The Strokes and My Chemical Romance.

Their 2018 self-titled debut album is a nonstop, fast-paced rhythmic onslaught all the way through, and even with 12 songs, it only takes 27 minutes to listen to the whole thing. It’s all-killer-no-filler, and if you’re like me, you’ll have it on repeat a lot.

Their music video for “Can’t Be Mine” was the first thing I heard, and I immediately knew I needed to hear more:


What’s crazy to me is how great it sounds live, especially on vocalist Bobby Nerves’ part:


From there I watched a full recorded show they did, and not only was I all the more impressed with how consistent Bobby’s vocals are, that was also when I truly realized how insane drummer Samuel Thompson is:

NSFW for language


Can’t believe how long he’s able to maintain that drumming speed, what a machine!

Anyway, you’ve gotta listen to this album. It’s crazy that these guys haven’t gotten more attention, and I feel like I should’ve heard about them much sooner, so I’m doing my part to spread the word.

Here’s the full track list, with 🌟s to denote my personal favorites:

# Track name 🌟 = standout track
1. “Can’t Be Mine” 🌟
2. “Mad Mind” 🌟
3. “Baby Drummer” 🌟
4. “Palace” 🅴 🌟
5. “Radio Punk” 🌟
6. “Bored of Babies”
7. “Electric 88” 🌟
8. “Wasted Days”
9. “New Shapes”
10. “Last Beat”
11. “Terminal Boy” 🌟
12. “Dreaming”

Get the album in these places: