Bass Drum Of Death

Originating in Oxford, Mississippi, Bass Drum of Death first took shape in 2007 when singer, guitarist, bassist, and drummer John Barrett launched the project as a solitary endeavor. Recording alone, Barrett issued the EP Stain Stick Skin through Fat Possum in 2008. The full-length debut GB City arrived in 2011 and featured the single “Young Pros,” after which Barrett began performing live with a rotating cast of supporting players. The follow-up, Bass Drum of Death, appeared on Innovative Leisure in 2013.

The Mississippi group, long identified with its rambunctious, bluesy garage punk and lo-fi rock, gained wider attention through GB City and Bass Drum of Death. Although personnel shifted over time, Barrett has remained the constant force, steering the band through explorations of Love-style psychedelia alongside power-chord, Stooges-esque punk on the 2014 album Rip This, the 2018 release Just Business, and the 2023 set Say I Won't. Rip This introduced drummer Len Clark in the studio; the next year Barrett placed the project on hiatus, citing “personal issues.”

Reconvening in 2018, Bass Drum of Death issued Just Business via Century Media. By 2020 Barrett had assembled a new configuration that included his younger brother, guitarist Jim Barrett, and drummer Ian Kirkpatrick. The trio put out the 7" single “Too Cold to Hold/Wait” and devoted much of the COVID-19 lockdown to developing additional songs. In 2023 they delivered the band’s fifth album and first return to Fat Possum, the Patrick Carney-produced Say I Won't.