Progressive Bad Luck

“Keep an eye out,” warns Johnny Kraft, drummer for local skate-punk trio Bad Luck Blackouts. “It’s been a slow time for us but it’s been a very productive time.”

Since February 2013, Bad Luck Blackouts have been recording their full-length debut locally at Roadrunner Studios. The album, simply called 13 (in keeping with the band’s bad luck theme), is out now.

Fans of the band won’t be disappointed in the material; album-track “Darkside” hits harder than ever — vocalist/bassist Kyra Van Winkle’s punk rock ashtray snarl makes Courtney Love sound like a choir girl, while Kraft and guitarist Aaron Carlson play an impressively taut approximation of big league, classic punk from the ’80s and ’90s like Bad Religion or Screeching Weasel.

However, Kraft thinks the band’s sound has evolved. The new material is “more progressive punk than our old-school, skate-punk roots,” he says, adding that the album is “a little more refined after being together for over three years. We’ve expanded our songwriting but stuck with the punk game.”

Refined or not, self-titled album track “Bad Luck Blackouts” is a short and sharp knife wound, a punk rock anthem worthy of the ages; Van Winkle coughs up blood while Kraft’s driving back beat and Carlson’s screeching guitar solo add an amped-up rockabilly feel.

Bad Luck Blackouts play with Wetsock and The Soothesayers 10 pm Saturday, Dec. 21, at Luckey’s; $5.

A Note From the Publisher

Dear Readers,

The last two years have been some of the hardest in Eugene Weekly’s 43 years. There were moments when keeping the paper alive felt uncertain. And yet, here we are — still publishing, still investigating, still showing up every week.

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Listening to readers has always been at the heart of Eugene Weekly. This year, that meant launching our popular weekly Activist Alert column, after many of you told us there was no single, reliable place to find information about rallies, meetings and ways to get involved. You asked. We responded.

We’ve also continued to deepen the coverage that sets Eugene Weekly apart, including our in-depth reporting on local real estate development through Bricks & Mortar — digging into what’s being built, who’s behind it and how those decisions shape our community.

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