Badflower

Los Angeles hard rock outfit Badflower brings grit and swagger inspired by the Sunset Strip to their potent blend of post-grunge muscle. Armed with dark anthems that often grappled with themes like addiction, pain, and mental illness, they made their debut in 2013 and earned their first modern rock radio hit with "Ghost" in 2018. Their first studio set OK, I'm Sick arrived in early 2019 on Big Machine, topping the U.S. Heatseekers chart. Two years later, the band returned with their sophomore effort, This Is How the World Ends. Their third album era began in 2024 with "Teacher Has a Gun."

The group initially got together in 2008 under another moniker, later changing bassists and their band name. The re-formed lineup -- vocalist/guitarist Josh Cole Katz, guitarist Joseph Paul Morrow, drummer Anthony Sonetti, and bassist Alex Espiritu -- released the Temper EP in 2015 on Hundred Handed Records. The blistering set included the arena-ready single "Animal" in addition to four other raw tracks that condensed the sounds of contemporaries like Royal Blood and Aeges with the fury of early Silverchair. Hit single "Ghost" -- which dealt with depression and self-harm -- arrived in 2018, rising to number two on the U.S. mainstream rock chart. That track, along with additional singles "x ANA x" and "Heroin," landed on their official debut OK, I'm Sick, which was released in early 2019. The album charted on the Billboard 200 and rose to number ten on the Alternative Albums chart. The following year, Badflower issued the tortured single "30" on Katz's 30th birthday. Another standalone track, the lurching, grunge-inspired "F*ck the World" arrived soon after.

In 2021, the band kicked off a new album era with the single "Family," from their sophomore effort This Is How the World Ends, which entered the Top 20 of the U.S. Hard Rock and Heatseekers charts. Their next cycle began in 2024 with the singles "Teacher Has a Gun" and "Detroit." ~ Neil Z. Yeung