For the second straight review,
the CD Odyssey features a rock band featuring two sisters.
Disc 971 is…Ride Your Heart
Artist: Bleached
Year of Release: 2013
What’s up with the Cover? A young woman looks back
wistfully, artfully, maybe even poignantly – it’s hard to tell. What does she
see? I’d say nothing given all the hair in her face.
How I Came To Know It: I read a review for the band’s
new album “Welcome the Worms” and in the process discovered this earlier
record. I ordered them both through a local record store. See – despite my
online purchases, I support my local record store.
How It Stacks Up: Bleached only have two full length albums and
I have them both. It is pretty much a dead heat between them, but if I had to
choose I’d put “Ride Your Heart” second, but only by a narrow margin
Ratings: 3 stars
“Ride
Your Heart” is a modern record but with both feet planted firmly in the past.
It isn’t steeped in innovation, but it did make me tap my toe and enjoy myself,
and sometimes that’s all you want from music.
“Bleached”
consist principally of sisters Jennifer and Jessica Clavin, who play a form of
music I call Fuzz Rock. Fuzz Rock is like rock and roll that has more buzz than
gravel and the vocals feel like they’re being sung just a little too far away
from the microphone. The guitars have lots of distortion and the whole thing is
just a little…fuzzy. But it works.
“Ride
Your Heart” has an ambient, back-of-the-room feel that takes the edges off of
everything, while still staying firmly and aggressively rock and roll. The
songs have simple structures, and melodies that are predictable but enjoyable, played
in a lively upbeat way that reminded me of sixties pop acts with names like the
Ronettes or the Shirelles. Like them, “Ride Your Heart” is a combination of
Pollyanna optimism and disappointing heartbreaks. Those heartbreaks feel more
unbearable because they’re happening for the first time, but you know everyone’s
young enough that they’ll eventually recover.
“Guy Like You” is particularly schmaltzy
and sixties high school sock-hop, but it so infectious it is irresistible. This
is music so cute you want to pinch it on the cheek and tousle its hair. Of
course, you don’t. These girls are rock musicians and would be liable to punch
you in your mouth for it.
The
influences cross through multiple decades, with the infectious punk-tinged pop
of the Go-Gos evident on “Next Stop”
and multiple songs that reminded me of Blondie (including “Waiting by the Telephone” that had me thinking heavily of Blondie’s “Hanging
on the Telephone”). The Blondie influences are so strong that at times they
stray dangerously close to making the record feel derivative, but for the most
part I just welcomed the reinterpretation of some great rock concepts.
And besides, a lot of this stuff is incredibly
catchy. “Dead In Your Head” is four
minutes of glorious bass line and well placed neo-New Wave guitar flourishes.
If you can’t find it in your heart to groove along to this song you are
probably dead in your head yourself.
The
record is a comparatively short 36 minutes and over two days I got four full
listens in. While there are no terrible songs, by the third listen I was ready
to move on to something else. All the songs are good, but apart from “Dead In Your Head” few stood out. This
is an album that establishes a mood well, but needs more peaks and valleys, and
a willingness to explore the nooks and crannies of their stylistic influences.
Also, while
the production is deliberately fuzzy, it also lacks oomph. On their follow up
album, they solved this problem, getting a bit more crunch. Here I found I was
perpetually tempted to turn it up louder, but knew that would just anger the
people on the bus beside me and still not deliver the sound separation I craved.
Also,
there isn’t a lot to say about this musically. It is fun and upbeat, and likely
great for a summer drive in a rented convertible, but I didn’t feel emotionally
invested. Sometimes music is just about having a good time. If that’s the mood
you’re in then there is enough edge on “Ride Your Heart” that you can get your
fix here and not feel guilty.
Best
tracks: Looking
for a Fight, Outta My Mind, Dead In Your Head, Guy Like You
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