Greg Graffin called his influences "pop-sounding rock tunes that were not necessarily commercial." Brett Gurewitz acknowledges attempting to emulate Germs singer Darby Crash early on in Bad Religion's lyrical style. "He wrote some intelligent stuff, and didn't shy away from the vocabulary, which I thought was cool." In addition to their use of unusually sophisticated vocabulary for a punk band, Bad Religion is also known for their frequent use of vocal harmonies. They took their cues from the Adolescents, in the way that they used three-part harmonies. Bassist Jay Bentley says, "Seeing the Adolescents live, it was so brilliant. So, in a way, the Adolescents influenced us into saying we can do it, too, because look, they're doing it."