Bass Drum of Death challenges listeners with ‘Say I Won’t’

For Bass Drum of Death (BDOD) frontman John Barrett, making music has always been a solitary endeavor. That is until BDOD’S recently released fifth full-length album, “Say I Won’t.”

The album was written and recorded in collaboration with the entire touring band: Barrett’s brother and guitarist, Jim, and drummer Ian Kirkpatrick.

BDOD’s headline tour, which kicked off in New Orleans on Feb. 8, will conclude on Sunday, April 16. The band will make its way to Tucson and Phoenix, Tuesday, Feb. 14, and Wednesday, Feb. 15, respectively.

With the help of producer Patrick Carney of The Black Keys at Audio Eagle Studios in Nashville, the band was able to create a reinvigorated sound, encompassing previous DIY rock influences while adding a ’70s-indebted swagger.

“(Carney’s) flavoring changed some things for the better and working with the other two guys, you get different points of view — different things come to the forefront,” said Barrett of the collaboration.

Barrett began writing the album back in New York, where he had lived since releasing his first record, “G.B. City,” in 2011 but moved back to his home state of Mississippi once the pandemic hit. There, he finished the record, which he had been working on since 2018.

“There was not a whole lot else to do other than try to finish up some of these songs,” he explained. “Obviously, Mississippi is a lot quieter than New York, so I was able to buckle down and focus.”

The album title and titular track, “Say I Won’t,” refers to a schoolyard goad from the brothers’ childhood, as if to say, “you dare me?” Indeed, the studio album does what it wants, sporting the confidence of an act that’s been touring for over a decade with the added vitality of new bandmates and perspectives.

Barrett remarked that the band was looking forward to returning to the road and likened touring to a “big traveling circus with all your homies.”

Nashville-based rock band Have a Rad Day will open for the Arizona shows. For the East Coast leg of the tour, the band will be joined by the indie-rock band Dead Tooth hailing from Brooklyn, NY.

Fans can expect a show firing at all cylinders, featuring new music from “Say I Won’t” while featuring earlier fan-favorite tracks. At its core, the show will be “an hour and 15 minutes of fast-paced rock ‘n’ roll,” Barrett said.

After two long pandemic-filled years, the band only recently went back on the road in 2022. But rather than easing back into touring life, BDOD jumped right back into the thick of it, playing South by Southwest, shows on the East and West Coasts, traveling to the UK, Ireland and France, and opening for the Lemonheads on a west coast run in November and December.

Barrett compared it to “riding a bike, except you’re older, and everything hurts a little bit more. … It’s been nice to know that COVID hasn’t completely killed people’s appetite for live music.”

Bass Drum of Death

WHEN: 8 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 14

WHERE: 191 Toole, 191 E. Toole Avenue, Tucson

COST: Tickets start at $24

INFO: ticketmaster.com, bassdrumofdeath.com

Bass Drum of Death

WHEN: 8 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 15

WHERE: The Rebel Lounge, 2303 E. Indian School Road, Phoenix

COST: Tickets start at $20

INFO: therebellounge.com, bassdrumofdeath.com

This article appears in Feb 9-15, 2023.