It’s fair to say most of us are cycling through a lot of moods right now during quarantine; anger, fear, boredom, and occasionally hope. While our anxiety runs rampant and the apocalypse looms, Billy King & the Bad Bad Bad have a new single being released to help everyone process what a shit show the world is right now. 

The band’s upcoming single, “Tiger's Den,” takes the band's signature ‘surf-rock from hell’ style, and gives it a rougher, country-style twist.The track’s greatest strength lies in the narrative it lays out, creating a compelling and interactive story within a song. Through the song’s non-linear lyrical setting and immersive soundscape, the single taps into Billy King’s signature sound.  

The winding and anticipatory track begins to build and crest before vocalist, Will Reynolds, launches right into a twangy howl filled with bravado. Reynolds speaks in a cinematic but commanding manner, regailing of past days spent in the Tiger’s Den with an old flame. His voice provides a brief exploration into the story the band is telling, without commandeering the narrative.   

 In many ways the song reads as a love ballad, but the band replaces the typical lust and loneliness found in love songs with a sense of urgency. Guitarist, Cameron Wren, and bassist, Mike Sellman, really help set this tone in place. The guitar interludes add in a nice call to action, giving the listener space to take in the music and decide where exactly they would place themselves within the world the song presents them with. 

“Tiger's Den" helps make those weird, frantic trips to the grocery store, a rebellious adventure in a post-apocalyptic spaghetti western. Tie that bandanna around your face and let the music take you over in your search for paper towels and oat milk.

-Avril Carrillo

A relative quick ascendancy to the forefront of the Austin music scene, Billy King and the Bad Bad Bad have brought a blue-collar work ethic to their psychedelic ‘surf-rock from hell’ aesthetic. Endeavored consciously or not, Billy King and the Bad Bad Bad are carrying on a rich history of psych-rock in Austin. The proverbial doors of psych-rock perception were opened by bands like Roky Erikson and the 13th Floor Elevators, Conqueroo, and Shivas Headband in the 60’s, all the way up to the ‘Levitation King’ himself, Christian Bland, and the Black Angels. What makes BKBBB infatuating, is their lack of self-seriousness paired with lyrical landscapes of fantasy that are fortified by hypnotic drums, mind-melting riffs and dramatic choral swings.

 On their first music video “Methmatics” lead singer, Will Reynolds, gives a comical stare through classic 60’s liquid oil projections, only to follow up with a wrecking ball of anti-establishment rhetoric and a sledgehammer of a chorus. 

 “My consciousness is fully plugged into the TV/ Where the mainstream media uses propaganda to fool me/ With fear as their weapon/ to try and fucking control me”

The formula has worked on other BKBBB tracks off of their Fever Dreamin’ EP, like “Night Terror” and “Werewolf of Love”. Reynolds is a premier frontman with perfectly graveled falsetto howl and engaging stage presence, but it is guitarist, Cam Wren, who sows the elements together with a deft axe of unmerciful riffs and solos. While their content can be playful, their sound is a gravitating sonic assault that beckons a visceral head-bang in lieu of a spaced-out daydream.

Trouble In The Streets - Shot out of a cannon into the Austin music scene, this eclectic electronic trio has already played with esteemed artists like George Clinton and the Parliament Funkadelic, the Rebirth Brass Band, and Grupo Fantasma. Lead singer, Nnedi Nebula Agbaroji, is a force of nature as a front woman and her vocal talent and charisma make Trouble In The Streets a band to watch in 2018.

Billy King and the Bad Bad Bad - William Reynolds and Cam Wren are two friends who played music together for years until they finally formed Billy King and the Bad Bad Bad in 2017 and knocked audiences off their feet with fast, theatrical hits like "Werewolf of Love" and "Night Terror." Playing bigger shows and fine-tuning an already electric live shows, Billy King and the Bad Bad Bad have a promising 2018 ahead of them.

Annabelle Chairlegs - A menacing and insane aura emanates from this psych-rock quartet that features a fiery front woman, Lindsey Mackin. Their music is entrancing and the band's mystique only serves to heighten the undeniable allure of such a delightful throwback sound. Their trajectory should keep them aimed for an exciting 2018.

Los Coast - Soulful vocals, intricate instrumentation, and a symbiosis of good vibes has made Los Coast a favorite in the Austin live-music circuit. A residency at C-boys nightclub and a slew of festival bookings elevated their profile and a new record deal is making this band's 2018 look brighter and brighter.

Magna Carda - Sprung from the college campus of St Edwards, this hip-hop trio is bringing a focus to the tragically neglected Austin rap scene. Beats and clever lyrics collide with MC, Megz Kelli, and the beat maker, Dougie Do, as they continue to impress with highly addictive and stylized songs that can only grow stronger in this new year.

 It's a rarity to see a band hit the ground running quite like Billy King and the Bad Bad Bad have in the past few months. House shows, a Do512 event, and a few other tune up gigs have all lead up to their much-anticipated upcoming headline show at the Mohawk on July 25th. Ominous drums, twanged guitars, and the otherworldly howl of Will Reynolds all coalesce to evoke a behemoth of a sound that is as sinister as it is hard-hitting. Reynold's impeccable vocals oscillate between a theatrical Screamin' Jay Hawkins and a Southern-styled Andrew Stockdale of Wolfmother. Bonham-esque percussion from Marty Chronister serves as the backbone from which the surgical guitar-stylings of Cam Wren spring forth, comprising equal parts power chords and face-melting solos.

 Frills and gimmicks are lacking as this trio smashes through a short but transcendent thread of songs that are now finally available on their debut EP Fever Dreamin'. The jittered punk diddy "Werewolf of Love" is an earworm of the highest order while "The Night Terror" slow-creeps into one the most cathartic choruses of recent memory. Billy King and the Bad Bad Bad don't need time to figure themselves out, they stand ready to unleash their hell fury unto us with wicked abandon, and you'd be a fool to deny their sacrament on July 25th at Mohawk.

-Lee Ackerley