Bad Design

Full disclosure: I really like Bad Design. Coming out of Denton, JP Hossley and crew have taken their aggressive post-punk into an even more sonically challenging, yet pleasing, direction with the addition of new guitarist of John Gillespie. Such a shift isn’t much of a surprise, given the dynamic loudness that Gillespie’s former band, the now defunct math-rock group Dear, Human proffered to a wonderful degree.
As great as Bad Design’s Self-Titled album is, it’s hard not to see the progress that’s taken place inside the confines of their Diamonds EP.
I caught a set of their at the Bryan Street Tavern a few months ago, and was really blown away by the power of their performance, and how well Hossley’s menacing howl translated in the live setting. I left feeling as though these guys have the whole “accessible experimental” thing down as cold as a guitar-based rock band can have it (maybe there isn’t such a thing, but if there is, they got it.).
Their Bandcamp page offers both of their albums for cheap and they’re both worth well more than the price you’ll pay. Also, keep an eye out for the gig-posters they design. Along with the musical talent, their graphic talents are excellent as well. - Best of Texas - The Squawker

There's more to this weekend's 35 Conferette than the scheduled shows, as this poster for one unofficial showcase in particular shows -- and rather beautifully at that.

Designed by John Paul Hossley of Art Love Design, this poster combines an illustration by Adam Chavez of a mythical half-bird, half-airplane, half-bearded man (How Denton!) and another illustration of what appears to be a vinyl record to promote I Love Math's Sunday day party at Freebirds World Burrito. And it certainly does its job nicely -- it's eye-catching for starters, but also even goes so far as to include the show's set times, something we selfishly wish more posters did, if only for purely organizational reasons.

Speaking of unofficial day parties at 35 Conferette, the folks over at D Magazine's FrontRow blog have compiled a useful listing of these shows, if you for some reason think you're going to have any free time this weekend.

And, with that, we're off to the festival ourselves. See you up in Denton.
- Dallas Observer DC9

Bad Design
Bad Design (Self-released)
By Kelly Dearmore Thursday, May 26 2011
Denton's Bad Design understand the role artistic influences should play in an individual's own creation. The post-punk trio consisting of Steve Altuna, John Hossley and Clint Sawyer has obviously enjoyed the works of Fugazi and the Pixies, yet they've managed to produce a raw-boned album that merely draws from those influences and avoids blindly Xeroxing the classic sounds onto their record.
The primal pain that permeates Altuna's vocals often rumbles lowly with an angst that effortlessly releases into soaring yelps. Such madness matches the intensity of the music when things really kick into a much higher gear from where the tune started—especially in the album-opening "Long Time Coming." Whether it's the fuzz-saw frenzy in "40 Honey Buns" or the Built to Spill-style mellowness of "Milk Maid," each song is unpredictable, yet retains a solid overall form.

The real shining moment, however, comes with the album's triumphant closer, "Surfing Waves," a sweeping anthem that hammers the record home, not with prime-time ready melodrama, but with sweaty, red-faced fervor. It's a fervor that can't come from ripping off another band, something Bad Design understands even if so many others don't. - Dallas Observer