Release Date: July 17, 2020
Genre: Rock, Funk, Soul
Label: Lizard Snake Records
Toronto-based sextet Bad Breed is prepping the release of their second full-length album, The Bad Breed in Ferocious Love, out July 17th via Lizard Snake Records. The eight-track album blends the genres of rock, funk, and soul together and takes listeners on a powerful journey of the past year of the life of the group’s vocalist, drummer, and lyricist Mike Gribben, formerly of the bands, The Killer Elite and Grasshopper. The album covers everything from personal tragedy to embracing love and joy in life. The album also marks the return of Gribben performing the drums, an instrument he had put down years before due to anxiety.
Ferocious Love began out of the harrowing tale of the reality of the death of Gribben’s best friend and partner of thirty years. Gribben, coming out of an extended period of depression and despair where he thought nothing could possibly change for him. However, life took a sudden and unexpected turn for the better, which brought both love and joy to Gribben’s doorstep and he began to accept it into his life-changing everything for the better. Ferocious Love opens with the track, “War With Myself,” a love letter to Gribben’s wife showcasing a massive presence of funk and rock. Bad Breed’s raw power and the theme of love and joy, shines throughout “War With Myself” and the remaining seven tracks on the album. Writing this album helped Gribben a tremendous amount in more ways than one. By surrounding himself and collaborating with his bandmates, Katherine Wilson (vocals, synth, percussion), Maylin Ortega (bass, vocals, keys), Oscar Tang (guitar), Mark Hundevad (drums, percussion, organ), and Brea Scott (vocals, percussion) it became an integral part of his recovery out of the dark times he has faced over the last year of his life.
“This album is also a testament to the power of collaboration and forging strong bonds with people. I had spent years thinking that I could never make connections with people again while I was in the deepest parts of my depression. Being able to reach out and communicate with the people who I wrote this album with was just incredibly huge in being able to come back into the world again,” states Mike Gribben.
Bad Breed has no designated lead vocalist. On each track of the album, the lead vocals are assigned to a different band member leading to numerous amounts of combinations for the band's past, present, and future. Bad Breed’s goal is to make a personal connection with every listener of their music and they really do their best to achieve this with Ferocious Love, if it’s with any of the tracks on the effort, but particularly tracks like “War With Myself,” “In The Real World,” “As Promised,” or “Not In My Life.” With this album, Bad Breed leaves you with an honest, raw, and open look into the band’s frontman Mike Gribben’s life. His trials and tribulations laid bare for any and all to hear. The use of rock, soul, and funk just adds to the already raw emotion that flows throughout the lyrics and music on this body of work from the band. You can stream, or purchase The Bad Breed in Ferocious Love on your favourite music streaming service or wherever you purchase your music on July 17, 2020, to hear this open look into the life of Gribben.
“If people can get the same sort of joy listening to this that I get when I listen to somebody like Curtis Mayfield or Stevie Wonder, then that would thrill me. If you hear this music and it makes you bop your head the way you do when you hear something like Led Zeppelin or The Meters, then I think we’ve done what we set out to do!” Gribben, leaves off.
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