Babe Report: Did You Get Better

Band names. Or more specifically, those names that don’t necessarily align with the music. Destroyer: a metal band? Nope. Dead Bandit: radio rock? Hah! No. Grizzly Bear: who the hell knows? Correct. Add Babe Report to the list. No, this isn’t a band that would be considered the pop trope on a Saturday afternoon at Primavera’s Pull and Bear stage. If we’re going there, then think of sunlight bending around the corners to reach the Ouigo stage. That’s Babe Report. A band that shreds for the devoted few.

What initially began as a two-piece born in the ire of lockdown, Ben Grigg (Whelpwisher, FCKR JR, Geronimo!) and Emily Bernstein (FCKR JR) soon drafted in drummer, Peter Reale (Yeesh) and bassist, Mech, to become a four-piece concern. The result was the excellent 2022 debut EP, The Future of Teeth.

R.J.F.: Strange Going

With anthemic hooks and blistering turns of pace, the Chicago four-piece swiftly found themselves in the same realm occupied by the likes of other ’90s-inspired acts such as Mannequin Pussy, The Gotobeds and Dilly Dally. The kind of bands that every record collection needs, and having signed to Boston label, Exploding in Sound, the band release their debut LP, Did You Get Better.

An album with woozy melodies, instant grooves and seemingly endless hairpin turns, Did You Get Better sees Babe Report produce a tourism of sound that is like the best-of compilation of your record collection. All bases are covered, starting with Turtle of Reaper. Like a firecracker lightening up the night sky, Babe Report expose their inner-Sonic Youth, adding grime from the fleapits that were home to ’80s hardcore. The Sonic Youth reverence continues on Freak on a Leash and Secular Manits, too, but with the kind of trailblazing moments built for high speeds and open roads.

Universal and Ocean sees Babe Report remain in the early ’90s, as Grigg and Berstein’s playful harmonies and vocal trade-offs have you pawing over the record collection in search of Pod and Last Splash.

Meanwhile, Voidreader breaks through to the other side, with a gnarled take on pop punk. And the Swiss army knife antics don’t end there, starting with Allergy 2000 – an exploration of the inner-workings of proto-punk where the spiky guitars of Television meet the thunderous roar of Mission of Burma.

Dragged Up Interview: “To us it just makes sense to get out there and play.”

It’s not all serious. Jane showcases Babe Report’s mischievous side with a not-so-subtle nod to Jane’s Addiction’s Janes Says. Sonically, it’s a world away, as the band’s frayed riff-a-rolla is like a cigarette burning to its end. Quite the contrast to Kathleen, which is arguably the indie-rock anthem of the year, as Babe Report produce something that beautifully bastardises the ideas of early Yo La Tengo.

While they echo so many underground touchstones, that’s not to say Babe Report are pastiche and Did You Get Better isn’t worth the time. Unlike so many bands out there using the vestiges of shoegaze and alt-rock as a yardstick, Babe Report neither feel like a bland sound-alike nor outstay their welcome. Their songs maintain the full flavour, and with an energy that is invigorating, few in the sphere of guitar-based music can match it. Alongside the likes of Verity Den, Babe Report can stretch indie-rock to new places whilst still retaining their secret weapon: immediacy. And on that note, don’t wait a moment longer to welcome Did You Get Better into your life.

Did You Get Better is out tomorrow via Exploding in Sound. Purchase from Bandcamp.