Bully : "Lucky For You"

This album came out back in June, but it's the time of year for me to catch up on things that fell under the radar earlier. We reviewed 2017's "Losing" album, not a great deal has changed in terms of what she does. There is a more refined production quality to the latest Sub-Pop release. The opening track is more of a riot grrrl tempo, jangles to much to be punk and smoothed out by the almost HAIM like vocal harmonies, are are a benefit of the refined production. Their some dream pop sounds leading into "Days Move Slow" . The tempo does not relent, where I can here they could break from this almost Nirvana like pacing by a few bps and let the song breath, but we get what we get here.

Things slow for "A Wonderful Life" and prove my previous theory regarding how the melodies might benefit from sacrificing a few bpms. We also get some more interesting guitar tones, and textures added to the song. 'Hard to Love" puts angst where some more polishing of the melodies into hooks could have taken place. I think I preferred the grunge tendencies of the previous album more. "Change Your Mind" sounds like Sheryl Crow covering No Doubt in a more aggressive manner. The more reflective moments proving to be the strongest. She does reach perfection at times with songs like "How Will I Know" that blends an infectious yet thoughtful melody with a volatile rock sense . 

The fuzzed out speculation of  " A Love Profound" is very effective in the hypnotic mood it creates. It flirts with shoe gaze in a round about way. Soccer Mommy joins the fun on "Lose You". It carries a casual 90s alt pop beat on the verses building into a more Veruca Salt like vibe for the chorus. It's a winning combination. There is a less focused strum to the wandering "Ms. America". "All This Noise" wants to be punk, and while it's influenced by punk, I am not sure it measures up to what we think of as punk here. Overall this album is pleasing to my ears I will give it an 8.5, as I do not feel it is where "Losing" was . 

Metz : "Atlas Vending"

 There is Am Rep quality of the 90s set against a more Stooges-like swagger. He is more Iggy Pop on the first song, he sings a little more on the second song. His voice has more of a rasp to it, yet manages to be more melodic on " Blnd Youth Industrial Park" . They get rowdier and more on "The Mirror". I like the angular dissonant nature of what they do it just does not hook me in for this song. Yes, it is very sonically rough around the edges but that only goes so far. These guys are good songwriters and things are allowed to progress in a more compelling direction. 

"No Ceiling " and " Hail Taxi" are both more punk in their direction with the latter having more of a Fugazi feeling which of course works well for me. They are more abrasive and noise-ridden than Fugazi with a grunge undertone.. "Draw Us in" has more of rambling punk feel, like the Afghan Whigs. "Sugar Pill" is a little more melodic though not a great deal as the pace picks up. The vocals are urgent and raspy. They kind of remind me of Drive Like Jehu here. It makes a few more listens for this one to grow on me. That Fugazi feeling I got earlier is lurking around but to a lesser degree. I really like "Framed By the  Comet's Tail" because is is darker and he sings more on it. He sings with a ragged desperation. They do explode out of this song with a big build up, so dynamically I am not sure where there has not been more of this but will take what I can get. 

The woozy "Parasite" is more disjointed and gives in more to a spastic noise tendency. We went from the most impressive song on the album to the least. I like the 90s Sonic Youth vibe of the last song. The vocals are rougher around the edges and more punk than Sonic Youth, but work really well.  I never really paid a great deal of attention to these guys before, but they have my attention now I really like this album and feel it will grow on me, so I will give it a 9. Out on Sub-pop

Bully : "Losing"

I had already heard the first song off this album during my research for the top 50 songs of the year list Treblezine was doing. The second song is noisy and not as hooky as the first song, but over all they cruise along the kind of detached indie rock that bands like Sebadoh made popular in the 90s. More organic and less focused on the atmosphere created by bands like Sonic Youth. The guitar parts are more interesting and melodic than punk. On "Running" Alicia lets her voice go into more of a scream. This is contrasted by the sugary layers of backing vocals that harmonize under her , but there is enough of an edge to keep them from sounding like Haim. The songs are short and sweet with only two crossing the four minute mark.

More moods begin to crop up as the album progresses. "Seeing It " being bass driven , but more introspective than the first few songs. There is a looser boozy feel to "Guess There' which like many of these songs has some grunge around it's edges. "Blame" has that warm guitar sound that takes me back to 1995. Alicia's voice is what brings you back from the nostalgia and into this band's own identity. "Focused" ponders some of the drug mishaps and how they effect her mental state. This reflective tone makes "Not the Way" come across as to simplistic and straight forward.Even though there is a rough edge to "Spiral" it has a enough smarts to balance out. "Either Way" goes back to the more snotty raw punk tendency of the band.There is something awkward about "You Could Be Wrong" that doesn't really work itself out until the chorus.


 They go into the more indifferent grunge strum of "Hate and Control" to close out the the album. This seems an odd note for them to end on though it's not a bad song.It does end more powerfully than it starts. I will give this album a 9. There are no bad songs some of them just connect with me stronger than others. Having grown up during this era of indie rock most of this album is very familiar, I like how she injects some pop sensibilities into what she does and will keep my ears open for them. It makes sense that Sub-pop is releasing this Nashville band's new album as they sound more Seattle than Nashville.