Buckle up, grab some extra earplugs and prepare your emergency rations. Bull Market is coming to town.
On February 17, the long-running Billings/Bozeman punk trio will return to the Missoula VFW for a special, Valentine’s Day-themed evening of high-decibel rock and roll. The show—organized by the cool-kid production squad Daisy Chain—also features Billings’ heavy-hitting Fly Over States and Missoula’s own (Pulp-endorsed) Poverty Porn.
Among the terrific punk bands that call Montana home, Bull Market boasts a singular gift for threading the needle between brutal, sludgy punk, playful snark and the occasional dash of pop-inflected breeziness. Nowhere is this dynamic more evident than on last year’s stellar album work weak. The seven-track record loosely traces the cadence of, yes, a work week: It opens with the groggy dourness of a Monday morning, lopes towards the more upbeat vibe of a Friday night, and culminates in the bittersweet comedown of a Sunday afternoon. In typical Bull Market fashion, the album throws a healthy dose of snarky shade at our reigning economic system.
Over the years, the trio—currently comprised of guitarist/vocalist Phil Griffin, drummer Nels Jensen and bassist Stephen Redmund—have garnered a reputation for bringing the same potent mix of angst and joy on their albums to the stage. For proof, look no further than the band’s recently released collection of live recordings—all, incidentally, from the Missoula VFW.
In advance of this month’s blow-out show (being billed, in pitch-perfect cheekiness, as a night of “emotional investment”), The Pulp caught up with Bull Market’s amiable Phil Griffin to chat about some of the unexpected music he’s cruising on right now, the unexpected optimism in Bull Market’s music, his past life as a paralegal and more.
The Pulp: Before we start chatting Bull Market, I was wondering if there’s another band or musician in particular that’s caught your ear recently?
Phil Griffin: Yeah [laughs]. In the last few days, I’ve been getting into YoungBoy Never Broke Again. It’s kind of campy. They seem really genuine at times and at other times, they don’t give a fuck. I’m a sucker for fat beats.
Nice. Is there a track in particular you want to shout out?
“Testimony.” I’ll just throw on his radio and just jam.
Love it. OK, switching gears to Bull Market. To my ear, there’s a bit of an arc to work weak: the vibe starts super heavy, but gradually transitions into something a bit poppier by the time we get to the last few tracks. Was that your intention?
That’s fun, man. We started wanting to go in two directions: more doomy, and also more poppy, somehow. We started out with the doomier shit on the opening track “Monday.” That’s what started the whole record. It feels like a Monday: shitty and slow [laughs]. And then, by “Saturday,” it’s pretty much a power-pop kind of thing. “Sunday” is a mixture of both. That wasn’t on purpose.
That really is the vibe of a Sunday, right? You’re half full of joy, half full of dread.
A lot of Broker, our first album, had a lot of my experiences working in a law office after college. And I just remember Sunday nights being such a fricking torture.
What were you doing in the law office?
I was a paralegal. I was actually writing briefs. I was pretty good at it, but I hated it. I only lasted a year. We were handling some bigger clients, though. We had some movie stars who had bought ranches out here, and we had a couple billionaire clients and stuff. It was pretty stupid.
What other bands come to mind, per that doomier sound that you referenced?
Lately I started working construction, and I just started adopting all the shit that comes with that. My boss showed me some cool, like, construction doom metal; what men work and listen to.
There’s a really cool band called Lowrider from Sweden. They’re badass. They’ve got some really nice grooves and cool tones; it’s like sailor metal.
I love that. You play guitar and sing; Nels drums. Who’s on the bass?
Stephen is our intern. He’s the newest member of the band.
Is it a paid internship?
[Laughs] No way, buddy.
Here’s a fun one for you: Do you consider yourself an optimist?
That’s a funny question. Our recent t-shirts have an upwards arrow image on there. I really like that: the arrow’s going up over time, but there’s also bumps where it goes down. These days I tend to be an optimist, but a careful optimist.
My favorite band is The Hold Steady. I fucking love that band. I’ve adopted their name as a mantra: holding steady is the goal. And if you can catch an updraft, that’s cool. You’re gonna get washed up on shore, here and there, but you can get back out and get at it.
I’ve had my personal struggles and feel really thankful to have made it through. So yeah, I tend to be more positive nowadays.
The band has a political name and there’s definitely politics or cultural critique in there. But I don’t really like the politicization of everything. At our shows, it’s just important for people to come and have fun and lose their mind and dance.
With that optimism, I’m about staying in your own lane and doing what you can to build up your life a little bit and make it better. Have fun.
I’ve been simplifying. I have a flip phone, so I stay off of news websites. It’s a necessary measure for my mental health. I literally can’t handle it.
Phil, is there anything you want to add before we wrap up?
I’ll say that the future looks bright for our investors. We’ve got some vinyl coming down the pipe. I think we’re gonna turn work weak into a vinyl record.
Q1 is looking good?
Exactly. 2024 is holding a lot of promise, a lot of profits for us.
You may be the single person in the United States who has uttered the words “2024 holds a lot of promise.”
[Laughs] Hey, if that’s our position…we’ve always been a radical band.
Bull Market, Fly Over States and Poverty Porn touch down at the VFW Sat., Feb. 17. Doors at 8. Show at 9. $15.
