Bullshit Detector began in 2019 as a project between vocalist and primary songwriter Richard and two former members of Lower Class Brats. But with live music on hold during the pandemic, the band remained largely a practice and recording project until 2021.
“We really just wanted to write French and Italian-style Oi! music with some other stuff mixed in, and most notably that was post-punk,” Richard tells me. “You can hear it even on the first record, although we’ve leaned more into the post-punk over the years.”
These days, Bullshit Detector are often described as “cold Oi!,” a tag Richard considers reasonably accurate, even if it doesn't tell the entire story. Bands like Nabat and Bleach Boys inform the Oi! side, along with the UK82 sound of groups like The Ejected. The lead guitar comes from a different place, drawing on Robert Smith's playing in both Siouxsie and the Banshees and The Cure, as well as the more chaotic death rock of Christian Death.
The band's latest release, Built for War, is a self-released full-length that has been in development for several years. Richard says many of its original demos date back three years or more, with songs starting as his own demos before he brought them to the rest of the band.
From there, the material goes through another stage with Ramzi at Central Sound Recording, where the band also records. “He makes production suggestions that we accept or reject,” Richard explains.
While previous Bullshit Detector records tended to focus more heavily on politics and street-level subjects, Built for War turns inward. Depression, abandonment, fear of abandonment, body dysmorphia, toxic relationships, and betrayal are among the issues Richard addresses throughout the album.
“This one is really introspective comparatively,” he says.
Although the members now live in different parts of the country, Bullshit Detector remain primarily based in San Antonio, Texas, a city Richard speaks highly of when it comes to punk and hardcore.
“There are some younger bands in San Antonio like Funeral Service that are making some super important hardcore punk, but bands like Cheeks are doing some really cool stuff too,” he says. “There’s also a lot of good post-punk like Nocturnal Prose and Night Ritualz, tons of great hardcore like NUN and Inner Self. I could go on for a while. And then the Oi! scene here just never dies.”
Bullshit Detector won't be staying home for long. The band heads to the UK and Ireland in November, including a couple of shows in Ireland with An Slua. After returning home for roughly a week, they'll head back out for most of December with The Casualties, including dates in Texas and throughout the Southwest.
For Richard, though, the response to Built for War has been particularly meaningful given how personal the material became. “It feels good to channel all this hurt and pain and frustration into something that others can identify with,” he says. “What makes it even better is that it seems to appeal to people outside punk and Oi! and hardcore.”
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Built for War is available now on most streaming outlets.
Bullshit Detector on social media: Instagram
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