SOUNDTRACK YOUR SUMMER – BALLYHOO RETURN ON LIFE-AFFIRMING AND SUN-SOAKED TENTH ALBUM

ALBUM REVIEW | BALLYHOO – BAD SUMMER by Craig Harston

Taking cues from their Florida-based counterparts in Less Than Jake, Ballyhoo have been providing a perfect combination of pop punk and reggae/ska for over three decades now. Despite us now heading into the end of the summer season – and it’s been a heck of a great summer this year – 2026 sees the Maryland natives return with their brand new album. Bad Summer is yet another sun-soaked and introspective banger from start to finish and is produced by ska punk legend and Goldfinger front man John Feldman.

Opener ‘Sixteen Forever’ is an energetic way to kick off the album. Starting with some dirty-ish guitars before the song kicks in proper, getting a little melodic hardcore in places as singer Howi Spangler reminisces on days gone by: “We’ll chase the feeling we once had, Take back our youth and make this rad”. Juxtaposed in its themes by album closer ‘Ruby Drive’, which puts its focus into looking to the past in hopes of finding meaning in the present – “And after all, we still carry on, Can we find the meaning in the chaos?” – the track features some great gang vocals over its spiky pop punk riffs, going immensely hard over the bridge!

The title track – and a song that’s already destined to be a future summer anthem – ‘Bad Summer’ finds Ballyhoo firing on all cylinders with an excellent repeated riff throughout. Think New Found Glory’s riff on early 2000’s pop punk classic ‘Hit Or Miss’ with its huge hooks and a superb guitar solo during the breakdown. Even as the lyrics lament the anticipation of a less than perfect summer following a break up and the difficulties with finding the strength moving on – “This summer’s about to be a bad one, She left me again under the hot sun”.

Meanwhile, ‘Thunderstorms’ takes a good hard look at how tumultuous relationships can be even when they are going well. Going huge on its choruses to contrast its more chilled out verses, more than anything, it’s basically just a great straight up rock song!

‘Happy’ and ‘Cali Girl II’ keep the summery vibes front and centre, the former an upbeat ditty that wears it’s 80’s influences firmly on it’s sleeve. Not least due to the presence of a saxophone, provided by the always great Saxl Rose, and quite literally reminds everyone to try to be as happy as they can be. The latter is a laid-back reggae song that points out how the great weather in California can’t solve all your problems, but it should at least help – “I’ll be sending all my love and I’m sorry, California didn’t give you what you want”.

Ballyhoo channel their inner Blink-182 on the deliciously pop punk ‘Slowly Dying’. Featuring plenty of chugging guitars, it goes big on the choruses and beautifully heavy on the bridge. Taking the fight on of internet trolls on the wonderful ‘I Guess I’ll Go Fuck Myself’ with some truly great lyrics – “You’re just a troll but it takes its toll, And I won’t feed into the nonsense” – a fantastic breakdown and some excellent gang vocals on the choruses and the refrain of “I wish you would die!”

Rounding out Bad Summer is the post-hardcore-esque ‘Blood Money‘, which is a little heavier on guitar and is as about as dark as Ballyhoo get with their sound. There’s some straight up sunny pop punk on ‘The Alchemist‘, as well as the laid back reggae/dub ode to the weekend on ‘Long Weekend‘, a track which reflects on how we don’t tend to have enough downtime with a good work/life balance. Finally, there’s the mildly alt-rock and ethereal ‘Mandatory‘.

Bad Summer features a strong theme of looking on the bright side in the face of adversity across its twelve tracks and is guaranteed to lift your spirits as we head into the darker and colder months. Its motif is a constant reminder that in the end, there is always hope. If summer had a soundtrack, it’d probably be Ballyhoo!

‘Bad Summer’ releases on 28th August via Right Coast Records and is available to pre-order here and to presave here.