Bad Optics Deliver Fire and Fury on New EP

Bad Optics is hardcore the way hardcore was when hardcore started - righteous, erudite, and physically pummelling. This is the kind of band that makes a lyrical meal out of words like “abrogate.” We’ve covered the foursome, led by Christian J. Hidell, before from the foot of the live stage, where we were sufficiently converted to their brutal take on punk. The Visitor, a three-song EP that’s hopefully just an amuse-bouche for a future full-length, is an opportunity to better scrutinize Hidell and his band, which currently features Stephanie Jones (ZOOKRAUGHT, Beautiful Freaks), Joshua Ihler (Deep Negatives), and Alex Warton. [Max Stephens contributed guitar and engineering to this EP, but left the band in January.]

In deft songwriting and an upgrade in production, The Visitor reiterates what we already learned from last year’s Pax Americana. The guitars are tightly coiled, the low-end rumbles, and the drums, while still a little buried in the mix, feel much more present than before. Its three songs represent distinct yet familiar avenues for the band: “The Industry of Death” excoriates rampant consumerism’s human price, “Raw Blink on Hari Kiri Rock” lambasts passivity in the face of police violence, and the title track spotlights the ease in escaping the friction necessary for growth.

Compared to Pax, a subtle melancholy runs through this offering, but it doesn’t tamp down the force or energy in the band’s performances. Everything’s conducted adroitly here, by everybody. “The Visitor” in particular sees the group shuffling gracefully in 7/8 time and racketing up the tension before building to an explosive, abrupt conclusion. Above all there’s a current of virtuousness in their drive to hammer on injustice, on local and global scales, even as the lava’s cooling around them.

Listen via Bandcamp below.