Southern California punk heroes Bad Cop Bad Cop have returned with a statement of purpose. Their new album Lighten Up is out now through Fat Wreck Chords and Hopeless Records, accompanied by the release of a full-length music video for the single “Disbelief.”
The four-piece featuring Stacey Dee (guitar/vocals), Linh Le (bass/vocals), Myra Gallarza (drums/vocals) and Alex Windsor (guitar), have built a reputation for pairing blistering energy with melodic bite, and Lighten Up takes that ethos to a more personal level. For Dee, the album is a milestone moment.
“Disbelief is one of my favourite songs on the record,” Dee said. “It came out whole, music and lyrics at the same time. I didn’t change a thing. The song is about how people often think life can’t get better, but the truth is we create the lives in front of us. We get what we give. I think people who are okay with limiting beliefs keep humanity stuck in negative energy. That’s what the song is about.”
Dee adds that making Lighten Up was unlike anything the band had done before. “This record really means the world to me. It’s the first time we got to do everything we wanted with people we love. It feels the most authentic. These are our personal stories and we hope to inspire folks to find the good stuff in life, even when it’s hard.”
The songs across Lighten Up pull no punches. “Straight Out of Detox” recalls a life-changing night for Dee, while “Strugglinh” has Le confronting her own battles with self-doubt. “See Me Now” reframes family loss into triumph, and “Dead Friends” plays like a punk elegy in the spirit of Jim Carroll’s “People Who Died.”
There’s even an appearance from underground LA rapper 2Mex, who features on “Note To Self.” Elsewhere, the band stretch their sound into unexpected territory, from the dub rhythms of “Note to Self” to the jazzy stylings of “Las Ventanas,” and a reimagined take on Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros’ “Johnny Appleseed.”
The band tracked the record at the Compound in Long Beach with producer Antoine Arvizu (Sublime, Ryan Bingham) and Miguel “Migs” Happoldt (Sublime, Slightly Stoopid). Vocals were captured in marathon sessions with longtime collaborator John E. Carey Jr.
“This was family the entire time,” Dee says of the process. “It was who we trusted, who we loved, who we knew we could work with. That’s why the record feels so alive.”
Formed in 2011 in Southern California, Bad Cop Bad Cop first made waves with their self-titled EP in 2012 and signed to Fat Wreck Chords in 2013. Their debut album Not Sorry arrived in 2015, cementing them as part of the modern Fat Wreck roster alongside NOFX and Lagwagon.
Their second album Warriors (2017) saw the band tackle politics, feminism and personal struggles head-on, earning critical acclaim. The Ride (2020) pushed further into self-discovery and empowerment, with songs about addiction, identity and survival.
Now, with Lighten Up (2025), the band sound more confident and connected than ever, carrying forward the tradition of West Coast punk while making room for vulnerability and growth.
For Dee and her bandmates, the message is simple: life is hard, but it’s also beautiful. “Stop picking the hard shit to look at—look at the beautiful stuff too,” she says. “Lighten up.”
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