Description

The Locustz is a Los Angeles-based power pop supergroup built around one of rock’s most enduring creative partnerships – Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Rick Springfield, Matt Bissonette and Gregg

Bissonette, two of the most in-demand session musicians in the business.

The band originally formed as The Red Locusts, releasing their eponymous debut album in March 2021. The record is a tribute to The Beatles and the power pop bands of the 1980s and 1990s, steeped

in melody, chiming guitars, and layered harmonies. The band has since rebranded as The Locustz, returning with a Record Store Day limited edition smokey green vinyl LP release titled “Buzzkill” and the

same power pop form that drove the first record..

The first two singles from their upcoming album “Buzzkill” reflect that return to form. Springfield says, “Valentino’s Bed is an imagined story of a guy who thinks he buys the Latin Lovers old bed and its accompanying aphrodisiac qualities and “sexy times”. It’s actually a song about sexual frustration and when a new haircut or a new cool jacket doesn’t work on the ladies, you could always score with a magical talisman like Valentino’s bed. Or so the writer thinks.”

Matt describes the second track “Having Said That” as “the ugly sister of “Valentino’s Bed.” Taken from a famous “Curb Your Enthusiasm” quote, after we say a mouthful of things that we are happy about to someone, we quickly pivot to that infamous pause where we insert that phrase “Having Said That” where we take a breath and force the other person to our will. Not the most gracious phrase, but one that exposes our need for power. This line doesn’t work very well with our wives so we thought we could get away with it in a song.”

Springfield described the recording experience as so immersed in Beatles influence that it “would send us to Beatle jail basically.” Beyond the Fab Four, the band’s sonic palette draws from Jellyfish, Electric

Light Orchestra, Big Star, and The Raspberries.

Rick Springfield is the creative engine at the center of the project. The Australian-American musician and actor earned a No. 1 hit with “Jessie’s Girl” in 1981 and won the Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance. Over the last five decades, Springfield has released more than two dozen albums and amassed a devoted global fanbase. The Locustz represents a creative outlet distinct from his solo catalog — a space to pursue the melodic, harmony-driven music that has always been part of his artistic DNA.

Matt Bissonette, bassist and co-writer, has been Springfield’s closest collaborator on the project. He and Springfield previously co-wrote songs together on Rocket Science, Venus in Overdrive, and Songs for the End of the World. Matt is a bassist and vocalist who studied jazz at the University of North Texas and went on to tour and record with Maynard Ferguson in the early 1980s. His career credits read like a who’s who of rock royalty: he has worked with Joe Satriani, Don Henley, Steve Perry, Peter Frampton, Rick Springfield, and Ringo Starr, and served as the bassist for Elton John’s band from 2012 to 2023.

Gregg Bissonette, Matt’s older brother, anchors the band on drums.Gregg is a rock drummer who won the 2023 Modern Drummer readers poll for best “All Around” drummer and the 2015 award for best “Studio” drummer. His résumé is equally formidable: he played on David Lee Roth’s first three solo albums and has toured as part of Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band since 2008.

Gregg, with Matt, have collaborated throughout their careers, dating back to their teenage years in Detroit and their early work with Maynard Ferguson’s big band.

The Locustz exists as something rare in contemporary rock — a supergroup formed not for commercial calculation but out of genuine friendship and a shared love of a very specific kind of music. Their sound

is unabashedly melodic, harmonically rich, and rooted in the belief that a great hook is never out of style.

Tracklist

1. Welcome To The Revolution (4:16)
2. Having Said That (2:53)
3. Battersea Park (4:12)
4. The Blur (3:36)
5. Valentino’s Bed (3:39)
6. Head Full Of Rain (4:26)
7. My Lovely Zoey (2:55)
8. When Boy Meets Girl (3:46)
9. Saint Teresa (4:07)
10. Then There Were Three (4:01)
11. Friend (1:48)

Original Bandcamp listing →