Stevenage based, Bad Breeding, call for solidarity with their fourth album ‘Human Capital’, a pointed and brutal display of aggression steeped in political awareness. Across twelve merciless anarchopunk inspired tracks they attack Conservative meritocracy and the exploitative forces of late capitalism with a cacophony of blistering guitars and thunderous drums played with an intensity that refuses to abate.



‘Human Capital’ is released alongside a manifesto of sorts. Within the almost 2000 word essay, long time collaborator Jake Farrell explains that “we are marooned on our islands of self obsession by cultural forces that emphasize our differences, keeping us apart and suspicious of one another. It feels as though in recent years, especially during the immediate onslaught of austerity following the 2008 financial crisis, that the idea of community itself was under attack”.


From the opener’s menacing feedback and raging distortion, across the album’s dynamic and wild time changes, through to the final ringing close of the almost optimistic ‘Rebuilding’, Bad Breeding demonstrate admirable control amongst impassioned expression. Vocals strain and guitars build in epic tension while rhythmic battles take place behind them and, despite it all, each track remains a concise tool applied to
their targets with deadly precision. Make no mistake, Bad Breeding aren’t shouting at clouds here. ‘Human Capital’ is a savvy, conscious body of work with salient messaging. There’s no aimless finger pointing, punching down or virtue signaling, the band comes armed with answers. It’s an intelligent record that defies individualism and promotes community, organization and compassion. “Our lives are not to be managed like we are each a plucky start up, not to be measured in the emotional profit and loss that we can extract from our relationships and those around us. We don’t need to invest time and energy on capital projects of the self on some doomed, linear journey to self actualization.”

Our take: I’ve been a massive fan of Bad Breeding since their first record in 2016, and through each of the four vinyl releases preceding Human Capital, my enthusiasm for the group has only grown. The trend continues with Human Capital, which to my ears is Bad Breeding’s best album. From the start, the most identifiable aspect of Bad Breeding’s sound has been their rhythm section, and they continue to melt my brain across these twelve new tracks. Bad Breeding has always seemed to come at hardcore sideways, their dense and clattering rhythms reminding me more of industrial music than punk rock. There’s the absence of swing, but also this way of finding rhythms inside of rhythms, creating a trance-like state that often gets jarringly disrupted by one of their trademark whiplash rhythmic shifts. Bad Breeding’s guitarist has also always been inventive, finding space in their dense onslaught for earworm licks, but there’s a sense of melody on Human Capital that feels new. Listen to the way he scatters light-as-air, Slint-esque chiming notes in “Community,” or the memorable guitar line in “Rebuilding.” As usual, the lyrics and political stance are also well thought out, with an essay on alienation under capitalism by band collaborator Jake Ferrell occupying the reverse side of the poster insert. Whether you come to Bad Breeding for the innovative take on hardcore punk, the intriguing political analysis, the spot-on aesthetics, or all of the above, you’ll agree that Human Capital is a highlight in the growing discography of one of punk’s most perennially exciting bands.