The No Good Crowd

You know those nights when everything clicks? The pints are flowing, the band sounds like an old friend, and the songs give you that sly grin you didn’t know you needed. That’s the feeling. Yes, it’s four dudes making indie rock in an age of bedroom pop, chillwave, shoegaze, and whatever else is trending this week. We know. Still, from our first shows, a genre-blurring mix of garage rock, power pop, jangle, punk, and a little Americana muscle memory showed up and refused to leave. Guitarists Jamie Olson and Jim McGuinn have been making noise together since their early-2000s Philly days, then took the scenic route through breakups, side projects, roots bands, punk bands, bluegrass detours, and a decade-long Minnesota exile before circling back to Philadelphia. Add longtime collaborators and trusted rhythm-section troublemakers Brendan Skwire and Neil Simpkins, and eventually—inevitably—The No Good Crowd happened. As we sing, “It’s all right now / searching for the flutter and wow.” It’s only rock and roll—but it’s the thing that keeps bringing us back for more.