ALBUM REVIEW: An Early Listen of Virginity's 'Bad Jazz', out 6/28.

Virginity, a Florida-based indie/power-punk band, has created what is ultimately a gift to humanity: their latest album, Bad Jazz. Bad Jazz is Virginity’s third album and arguably my favorite out of their releases. With eleven tracks, Virginity is able to display their songwriting skills at full force and Bad Jazz is full of remarkable lyricism, catchy hooks, and powerful melodies you’ll never forget.

        Bad Jazz starts out with a sonic boom of a song, “Getting Good”, which is one of my favorite tracks from the album. It opens with this sweet-sounding acoustic guitar, just a few chords, before it blasts off with a burst of percussion and electric guitar power chords. Later on in the song, we’re treated to just the coolest, most satisfying build-up and then another burst of energy from the guitar and drums. “Getting Good” is an opening track of epic proportions with powerful lyricism that really sets the tone for the rest of Bad Jazz. The second track of Bad Jazz is “Some Hard Feelings”, which starts out with bouncy guitar and bass parts that compliment both the vocalist’s voice and the lyrics perfectly. A line from the song that I adore is “You’ve got me all wrong, if you think that I’m healin’, got more than a few hard feelings”. The end of the song is so fun, so high energy, and I absolutely love the subtle gang vocals at the final part. “Some Hard Feelings” is an incredible track that I can’t get enough of.

        The third track is called “Midweekend” and is one of my favorites from the album. “Midweekend” is a summer song, it is a driving-down-the-highway-with-all-your-windows-down kind of song, it is a song that you play at the loudest volume you can handle. “Midweekend” hits so hard and makes you want to scream along every single time. Powerful, moving guitar chords and strong bass combined with the electrifying, energetic lyrics and vocals turn “Midweekend” into the indie power-punk summer song. Hell, “Midweekend” just sounds and feels like being alive! Virginity released “Midweekend” early, as a single, along with “Any Good Thing” and “Swinging South”. “Midweekend” was the song that first got me into Virginity - I heard it before I even knew that it was a part of Bad Jazz and “Midweekend” ensnared my heart and thoughts entirely. I’m sure you can imagine how I felt, then, when I learned about the release of Bad Jazz - I was and will always be ecstatic to hear more from Virginity.

        “Swinging South” is the fourth track and is just so powerful, it is made entirely of pure energy, made entirely of power and electricity and sheer potential - I have fallen in love, over and over, with the strong, twangy-at-times lead guitar and the backing vocals that really tie the entire thing together. I believe that the perfect settings/times for “Swinging South” are the gym/being active, when you need to hurry to finish something, and when you need to feel powerful. “Swinging South” is incredibly fiery and strong and I adore this song so, so deeply. The lyricism may come off as a little sad, but I feel as though the lyrics take on a more frustrated and “over it” tone, which compliments the sounds of the instrumentals so well.

   Another one of my favorite tracks is Bad Jazz’s eighth track, “Nashville Hot Chicken” - this song is a bouncy, fun, and endearing track in which the vocalist is able to really show off his skills. It’s shorter than the other tracks, but aren’t those shorter songs usually the best ones, the ones that we pray there was more of? “Nashville Hot Chicken” is one of those songs. Virginity’s eleventh and last track of Bad Jazz, “Going Out of Business”, is another banger that I just can’t let go of or get out of my head. It is full of incredible, magnificent power chords and an energy so rare, to replicate it would be to bottle lightning. This song is reminiscent of my favorite rock and punk power songs (such as “Killing Kind” by Marianas Trench and “I Won’t Hold My Breath” by Thesaurus Rex) and when I heard “Going Out of Business” for the first time, it was like Virginity had struck a match and placed the flame to my heart. It is truly, completely, and absolutely a robust work of art. “Going Out of Business” lives rent-free in my brain twenty-four-seven and I am so excited for others to hear it and to feel the same way about. You need to hear “Going Out of Business”!

        Virginity is one of those bands that you don’t see coming at first, but then one day, they are zooming and racing to the top, playing from all of your friends’ earbuds, and are the first band you hear upon switching to your favorite radio station. I truly, deeply believe that Virginity and Bad Jazz deserve to be heard and to be known, to be played across my city, my state, the Midwest, and across the continent. I feel that, for me, just being able to be alive and exist at the same time as this album is a privilege. Do yourself a favor - save Bad Jazz to your music library and give it a listen. I think that you’ll love it in the same way that I do.