BLEACHED play Constellation Room May 4, Teragram Ballroom May 5, Casbah May 12
All-female trio Bleached are bringing their girl-group punk to The Constellation Room May 4 and the Teragram Ballroom May 5 in support of their sophomore album Welcome the Worms.
Valley-raised sisters Jennifer (vocals, guitar) and Jessie Clavin (guitar) have been mixing riot grrrl attitude with sunny California hooks since their days in the now-defunct Mika Miko. The addition of bassist Micayla Grace and producer Joe Chiccarelli (Elton John, Morrissey, the Shins), along with some hard knocks (Jessie was unceremoniously evicted while Jennifer went through a tough breakup) has provided a new-found edge to the cheekier sound of their previous releases For the Feel EP and debut album Ride Your Heart.
Throwbacks like the Go-Go’s indebted “Sour Candy” and Joan Jett by-way-of Weezer “Wednesday Night Melody” only hint at the sunnier Bleached of old. The core of the album consists of crunchy songs like “Hollywood, We Did It Wrong,” “Desolate Town,” and “Chemical Air,” where Jennifer sings “took a turn up to Mulholland drive to stare at the dirty letters in the sky, and I get this feeling I’m a girl with a dark side,” painting a vivid picture of the seedier Los Angeles the Bleached girls currently inhabit; filled with flickering neon signs, boys in bands, and the dark corners of crumbling clubs along the Sunset Strip.
Welcome the Worms may be Bleached reveling in their darkest tendencies, but it also has them refusing to give in completely. Having a ball when the world seems to be crashing down is a hallmark of punk rock, and remains a theme for the band. On “Trying to Lose Myself Again” Jennifer proudly sings “I don’t wanna live my life the way you think is right, cuz I know what I want, and I know what I like,” an “up-yours” rallying cry that would make Bleached’s predecessors like Sleater-Kinney and Bikini Kill proud.
The insubmissive moments like this on Welcome the Worms carry over in spades to Bleached’s live performances. Expect a high-energy show with crowd-surfing, a discography-spanning set, some pretty killer dance moves from the Calvin sisters and co, and plenty of attitude.