[ATTENDED: January 26, 2018] Bad Bad Hats
I hadn’t heard of Bad Bad Hats before this show, but I quickly became a fan of their music and especially singer/guitarist Kerry Alexander. In addition to writing catchy alt-rock songs, she had the most enjoyable between-song banter I’ve heard in ages.
Her delivery was really dry–whether as an act or her natural way of speaking, I’m not sure. But she told hilarious anecdotes to go with these songs, often deadpan and unexpectedly funny.
And the songs were really fun too. I talked to her briefly after the show and she was super nice, as you might expect someone from Minnesota to be. Her band even sold pennants which I found adorable.
They played about a dozen songs (most of which, Alexander told me, were from their new album, Psychic Reader).
The band was a four-piece with Alexander singing and playing guitar. There was a second guitarist who did some of the more wailing licks (giving Alexander a chance to rock-star-pose with her bassist).
Alexander’s singing style is low-key with interesting rhythms and tones.
Introducing the ridiculously catchy “Fight Song”, she said ‘This song is called “Fight Song” and I think you’ll soon see why.’
I really enjoyed watching her play guitar as well, because the chords she was playing were often high up on the neck of her guitar–while the other guitar was playing lower chords. She always added cool sounds to her songs while she was singing.
I enjoyed “It Hurts” with its terrific backing vocals. And I really enjoyed “Super America.” She introduced this song by telling us about going out to Super America, a convenience store like ones you have here with a W and an A in its name. You could go for snacks like Combos, Combos are a tube filled with pizza. And I like to think of myself the same way.
She also told an amusing story that the band loved coming to Philly and enjoying a late night cheesesteak ritual. She said they would eat their sandwiches in the van in the dark. And then in the morning see how much meat escaped–the gift that keeps on giving.
The music was great too, by the way. Simple melodies but very pretty with witty and clever lyrics.
Leave a Reply