Last weekend, Kerry Alexander and her Minneapolis based four-piece Bad Bad Hats brought their fuzzy and addictive blend of indie-folk, rock and sugary pop tropes to one of Denver’s most storied rock venues, the Hi-Dive. The venue in question couldn’t have served as a better backdrop for Bad Bad Hats, who after their most recent LP Lightning Round command their stage with more confidence, playfulness and maturity than we’d ever seen in the past.
The troupe trotted out to a number of Lightning Round high points, including an early and excellent live version of their most recent single “Nothing Gets Me High” to which over half the crowd belted out with the same unflinching sincerity that Alexander herself wields. While mostly alternating between acoustic offerings and garage-leaning indie-rock on their debut album, 2015’s Psychic Reader, Bad Bad Hats’ aural aesthetic has settled nearer to comfortable mid-tempo pop with a scuzzy guitarists’s backbone; and it is one that fits their live performances perfectly. Not to mention the on-stage chemistry between Alexander and her husband, Bad Bad Hats multi-instrumentalist Dan Hoge is as adorable as it is effective.
As the sweatily packed crowd pleaded for an encore, Bad Bad Hats strode back out for perhaps the highlight of the night in the form of “Super America”, which came with an absolutely hilarious explanation and even better performance of the tune. Bad Bad Hats will remain on the road for nearly the rest of 2018, so be sure to check them out if the quartet will be landing in a city near you, and stream Lightning Round on Afternoon Records now on all platforms.
