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VIRGINITY RELEASE NEW ALBUM BAD JAZZ VIA SMARTPUNK RECORDS
Physical copies of the album available here
Smartpunk Records‘ power pop darlings Virginity have released their long-awaited album Bad Jazz. The release is a follow up after achieving great success with their previous album POPMORTEM, which recieved acclaim from Audiotree, Brooklyn Vegan, The Alternative, and more.
Their third album’s title and approach are inspired by the improvisational spirit of jazz – specifically, improvisation born out of necessity. The songs on Bad Jazz come from a place of musical tangents, digressions, and what-ifs. A place of realizing that sometimes your best ideas are the ones that start as jokes. The album is about going with your gut, taking the mistakes and running with them, and letting curiosity take the lead. Singer Casey Crawford has said that Bad Jazz is the record where Virginity became, in his words, “a real band.”
Alongside the album release is the focus track “UR GODZ,” which is a tongue-in-cheek commentary about religion in modern society.
Speaking about the new album, Virginity vocalist Casey Crawford says, “Bad Jazz is Virginity finding an identity as a band. I know for myself it’s as close to true collaboration as I’ve ever gotten. It took all four of us to make this thing and if someone had been absent, it simply wouldn’t be the same. We pushed ourselves really hard to make the best songs we possibly could on every front. More than anything we wanted this record to have a beating heart. We wanted it to be wholly organic in nature and I think that’s why it was so important to us to track it live and to keep the songs alive and malleable all the way up to the moment they were being tracked. It’s not a perfect record, but rather a snapshot of us right now. A byproduct of keeping things real and trying to sort of consciously stay in a mindset of creativity is that we had an absolute blast making it. I never had more fun making music than the days we spent writing and tracking this record. When people listen to Bad Jazz I really hope that’s what comes through the most.”
BAD JAZZ TRACK LISTING:
1. Getting Good
2. Some Hard Feelings
3. Midweekend
4. Swinging South
5. Any Good Thing
6. 2 Sad 2 Get Stoned
7. UR GODZ
8. Nashville Hot Chicken
9. Mortal Comrade
10. Burden of a Wallet
11. Going Out of Business
ABOUT VIRGINITY
Bubbling up from the swamps of Central Florida, Virginity are an indie/power punk band that really just kinda wants to be Superdrag.
Formed in 2018, the band is an attempt to grapple with the existential dread of entering one’s 30s (and 40s) with plenty of baggage. Led by the duo of singer/guitarist Casey Crawford and drummer/producer Jim Dreffen, Virginity quickly found infectious melodies and confident songwriting in steady supply. Joined by bassist Jordan Shroyer and guitarist Chris Pfister, Virginity’s sound embodies the dark humor of the modern world.
Their debut LP, 2019’s With Time, crafted more as a therapy session than a record, caught the attention of FEST legends, Dikembe, who eagerly championed the album under their Death Protector label. Wasting no time, the cathartic Death to the Party EP followed in 2020 (Wiretap Records), which spawned the fan favorite “Bad Call.” A third release in as many years, POPMORTEM, (2021 Smartpunk Records) further cemented their reputation for catchy tunes with poignant lyrics and forever looking to subvert expectations.
2024 brings more Virginity to the masses: a new full length record this summer (Smartpunk Records); a second trip to SXSW, the band’s first international dates at Pouzza Fest in Montreal, and a slew of dates around the U.S.
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