bAd bAd is one of the most promising young acts in San Francisco, but now they’re in a legal battle with the oh so similarly named badbad, a not-so-promising duo fronted by Chelsea Tyler, daughter of Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler. bAd bAd’s Christian Zamora tells me he received a letter from a law office on Monday “threatening legal action if we (bAd bAd) did not ‘cease and desist’ all things related to our band in ’48 hours.'” Tyler claims she started badbad back in 2011, despite never playing a show, releasing a song, or even having an online presence until 2013. Our loveable heroes bAd bAd, meanwhile created their Facebook page in April 2012, and immediately began posting demos and playing shows all over the Bay. Check out Pando Daily for more details on the battle.

Zamora tells me bAd bAd plans to fight: they’ve spent two years working hard to establish themselves, finally releasing their debut album this year, (which unfortunately led to Tyler’s camp discovering bAd bAd on spotify). Zamora and his band spent their own money to press the album on cassette, which they’re now worried they won’t be able to sell in the future. I’d suggest you support our local boys and purchase bAd bAd’s cassette today, just in case they’re forced to change their name or need some cash for their legal fight. They also have a cassette release show scheduled for May 3 at Amnesia as bAd bAd – details are below.

4/25 UPDATE: Apparently Chelsea Tyler’s badbad is backing off. Today the band released the following statement on their facebook page:

To the music group “bAd bAd”, their friends and fans.

There have been recent events in which many people have passionately become a part of. In Novemeber of 2013, we (Jon Foster and Chelsea Tyler of the music group, “badbad”) posted our first single on iTunes and Spotify under the band name “badbad”. At that time there were no other recording artists holding that name in both iTunes and Spotify. Only a few months after, we heard of another band, called “bAd bAd”, that had released their own album. When we were informed that both our music was mistakenly categorized together, on a number of different major platforms, we decided to protect our assets.

If there is anything we stand for, it’s fair business. It’s hard enough to choose a name, let alone build a band from the ground up. We have a lot of respect for those who work hard for what they believe in. We make all of our music independently, in our home in Venice, and truly know what it’s like to do so. We have no desire to become someone else’s obstacle in their efforts for success.

After reviewing the facts, and looking deep within ourselves about how we truly feel towards the cause and effect of this situation, we have decided to change our own band name. We hope you understand. Please know that we support you and wish you a long and successful career.

Respectfully,
Jon and Chelsea

I’d still recommend copping that cassette and hitting up that show:

Cruel Summer, bAd bAd, Bob Thayer
Amnesia
May 3, 2014
10pm, $7-10