Formed in 2015 by lead singer Sarah Rose and guitarist Kienan Dietrich, the band's current lineup also includes keyboardist Beth Ballinger and bassist Maddox Reksten.
She[a] returned to Atlanta and formed Sarah and the Safe Word, initially intending it as an occasional solo project before Dietrich convinced her to make it a full band.
While the EP was primarily recorded with Rose, Dietrich, and bassist Brandon Ward,[10][11] for their 2017 debut album, Strange Doings in the Night, the pair brought in a number of session musicians to flesh out the sound, many of whom became official members, including violinist Susy Reyes, keyboardist Beth Ballinger, and viola player Courtney Varner.
[5][12] That same year, the band performed at Southern Fried Queer Pride, as one of several acts chosen to replace Pwr Bttm following that group's removal for misconduct allegations.
[4] In October, they performed at Center Stage in Atlanta as part of Motionless in White's Graveyard Shift Tour, appearing alongside Miss May I and The Amity Affliction.
[19] Marvin Doyital of Alternative Press included the single in "10 new songs you need to hear this week", praising it as a "cheeky punk banger" that was "proof that [the band] mean serious business".
[22] Despite the album delay, a second single, "Sick on Seventh Street", was released in May, with The Alternative describing the video as "like walking into a hazy bar, there’s something slightly off that keeps you coming back.
"[23] The album's official lead single, "The Last Great Sweetheart of the Grand Electric Rodeo", was released in August; Adam Grundy of ChorusFM described the song as "encapsulating everything that this band is capable of creating when they are firing on all creative cylinders".
[11] In December, they released another standalone single entitled "Solstice", which features gang vocals from 19 guest vocalists including Zac Xeper of Dog Park Dissidents.
[36][37] In June, for Pride Month, the band contributed their previous cover of "Mexican Wine" to the Say-10 compilation Never Erased, where they appeared alongside Dog Park Dissidents and other queer artists.
[39][40] In October, Sarah and the Safe Word re-teamed with Say-10 to release a remixed and remastered version of their first album, Strange Doings in the Night, along with a first-ever vinyl pressing.
[12] While promoting the Strange Doings re-release, Rose confirmed that the band had recorded a fourth album the previous June, with Jim Wirt returning as producer.
at the Disco (particularly their debut album), My Chemical Romance, and The Dresden Dolls,[19][41][24] as well as Creeper, Gogol Bordello, and The World/Inferno Friendship Society,[52][25][33] and musicals like The Rocky Horror Picture Show and The Nightmare Before Christmas.
[24][41] Rose has acknowledged the first three acts as personal influences, alongside metal bands like Linkin Park and The Chariot, post-hardcore acts like Thursday and The Receiving End of Sirens, punk bands like NOFX and Rancid, jazz artists like Ella Fitzgerald, and pop artists like Fleetwood Mac, Elton John, The Doobie Brothers, Spice Girls, NSYNC, and Matchbox Twenty.
[11][10][5][3][12][52][53] Rose spent summers in New Orleans growing up, where she was exposed to jazz and Cajun music, and she played in pop punk bands before Sarah and the Safe Word.
[5][12] Dietrich, meanwhile, cites bands like The Smashing Pumpkins and Blind Guardian that "create unique worlds with their studio production", as well as Bad Religion, The Germs, Black Sabbath, and The Beatles.
[10][11][4][5][52] The band's signature sound began to develop on Strange Doings in the Night, which saw them exploring theatricality with strings, horns, keyboards, upright bass, and accordion with the help of local musicians.
During the recording process they expanded from three members to six;[3][10][12][5] Rose has jokingly compared the group's large and eccentric lineup to Slipknot and the Dave Matthews Band.
Writing about the title track, Immersive Atlanta wrote that it "vividly demonstrates" that "the group’s theatrical take on alt-rock, pop, and emo has only grown more ambitious and fully realized".
[54][6] Lead single "Formula 666" is an uptempo punk song that features pop hooks, distorted guitar riffs, driving drums, and a chaotic heavy bridge with strings and screamed vocals.
Bad People., opening track "Welcome to Winterwood" features a prominent harpsichord riff as well as electric guitar, choir vocals, and "dreamscapey" reverbed strings; Rose intended the song to "remove you from where you are and let you enter a storybook.
[52][25] "You're All Scotch, No Soda" features piano, violin, and a fast-paced "stop-start" rhythm similar to Black Parade tracks like "House of Wolves" and "Mama".
[24][11][25] "Sick on Seventh Street" is a slower cabaret song that incorporates a vocal refrain from keyboardist Beth Ballinger, chiming bells, and minimalist percussion.
[30] In keeping with their inspirations, the band's lyrics emphasize theatrical, macabre storytelling, often utilizing supernatural and gothic horror tropes with a lighthearted campy tone.
Bad People., "Welcome to Winterwood" depicts a shadowy mythical location in the forest where "villains", "racketeers", and "wayward travelers" find refuge, setting the tone for the album.
"), a mysterious stranger who grants wishes at a cost ("When Oskar Fische Comes To Town"), and a hurricane that causes the body of a murder victim to resurface in Lake Pontchartrain ("Something is Afoot on Old Man McGrady's River").
[62] Later that month, shortly after the infamous Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, the band wrote in a statement that "the alt-right (or as we prefer to call them, white supremacist Nazi fucks) are not and never will be welcome at our shows.
"[68] They also posted a photo of bassist Maddox Reksten holding a sign reading "White silence = violence", captioned "Black lives matter.
"[69] In July 2021, the band announced they had cancelled a show at the venue Smith's Olde Bar due to their hosting of a fundraiser for the Atlanta Police Department.