A Lot on My Crate

I first heard about this band from North Carolina through the Brooklyn Vegan blog and saw this quirky and somber album cover that looks like it’s from Where the Wild Things Are. The creature on the cover looked like they needed a hug, so I wanted to give them a listen! Wednesday has been around the rock scene for quite a while with this release being their sixth. Their singles, “Elderberry Wine” and “Wound Up Here (By Holdin On)” are perfect litmus tests for seeing if this album strikes your fancy. They are a blend of noise rock and country notes that mix so well that it satisfies ones palette by being so modern and fresh. It is no wonder that their names have been thrown around as some of the most innovating in the indie rock scene as the genre refuses to throw in the towel to its contemporaries despite not being as booming popular. Self admittedly, I’m not a huge fan of country, however this album gets a huge praise from me, so that should hold much water. Also, MJ Lenderman is apparently in this band and it got me more curious as I did like a few songs from his last solo album as he is also obtaining buzz in the alternative scene. Bleeds has such rocking leads and noise that is so engaging, it just makes your head bang and your body move. I appreciate the strong song writing as frontwoman Karly Hartzman showcases them with compassion and steadfast emotion in her vocal chops. Like the album art, this LP is a beast, but it’s such a gentle, grungy, beast with a heart that will pour out in front of you.

Getting into it, the group just showcases and hone in their rock energy with the opening track, “Reality TV Argument Bleeds”. And then the next track, “Townies” is such a treat with the chorus having so much teeth as that energy has not been diminished from the previous song. It tells about the burdened past that weighed one down from everything that is wrong from the small town they grew up in. Just the visuals of what everything Hartzman’s character is going through and describing the setting is down to the bone accurate on the damage that small towns inflict upon people. And then we get into the next two songs that were featured as singles and man, a part of me was happy that I was not spoiled on what I was about to be treated with. “Wound Up Here (By Holdin’ On) is such another showcase on Hartzman’s strong song writing on how one tries to survive in a cruel rural landscape. One dreams of a lottery ticket, while one’s dreams ends and what is now a crime scene. The grunge guitars are the true reason this band wants to let their audiences know ahead of time with this single that they are not to be trifled with. And what is now a night and day difference with the next song, not in quality, but in mood. It is my favorite song of the album as “Elderberry Wine” is such a smooth and gentle piece that is probably has the most country blends within it. Among the toxic world that we live in, we always find the sweetest things among life and cherish it as much as we can. It is much needed positivity that contrasts the previous songs and shows a light at the end of the tunnel, as it is a metaphor that elderberries while being poisonous for consumption is made into sweet wine that one can enjoy to cope with others as they get along just fine. What a lot of these songs do is reminisce the good times, not all of them are pleasant, but at least they are memorable as such in “Phish Pepsi” as they remember smoking from a Pepsi Can or watching the movie, Human Centipede. The grunge comes back on “Candy Breath” as we look into Hartzman’s world of her just surviving in it and relying on her “candy breath” to get her through the times. Looked up candy breath and it is apparently a strain of sativa. A slow ballad arrives on horseback with “The Way Love Goes” and with one big fell swoop is “Pick Up That Knife”, which is a jam that tells of a person down in the dumps as the world loves to beat them down. But do they come back with a vengeance? And just hearing the Death Grips reference in this song already made me love this band even more. Next up, even though it’s a short minute and a half interlude, “Wasp” went out guns a blazin’ and is probably the most in your face they’ve gone on this LP. And Hartzman goes pessimistic on “Bitter Everyday” with how she face plants the floor that is life. And then in the last leg of the album, we reach the eye of the storm with a soft piano ballad that is “Carolina Murder Suicide” with poignant, beautiful poetry on something that is so grim. You can see them paint when they mention fruit flies sleeping in a drain. So, we end on a country tone with “Gary’s II” and it wraps up the album nice and tight with the last verse best describing the motif of this album, which I won’t spoil of course.

Little complaints on the album. Even on some of the ones I didn’t get into as much, I was awestruck with how strong the songwriting was. “The Way Love Goes” was a little too mellow for me and I’m glad how soft the ending happened and how the writing is still consistent, but sonically wise, the ending songs weren’t as captivating as “Elderberry Wine”.

I absolutely love this album. Hartzman is such a great storyteller and conjurer of images. The album again blends rock and country so well that I can see fans of both crafts would appreciate how captivating, boisterous, and uplifting in such a downer of a world the band paints. Because what hurts you, makes what you stronger and more appreciative of the little things along the way.

FAVORITE TRACKS: REALITY TV ARGUMENT BLEEDS, TOWNIES, WOUND UP HERE (BY HOLDIN ON), ELDERBERRY WINE, CANDY BREATH, PICK UP THAT KNIFE, WASP, BITTER EVERYDAY

LEAST FAVORITE: THE WAY LOVE GOES

You can purchase this album on Bandcamp and their discography is also available for streaming.

https://wednesdayband.bandcamp.com/album/bleeds