Bully - Feels Like

Bully
Feels Like
2015
Bully - Feels Like

When listening to Bully they sound like a band that has really been through some shit. This album is gritty and real as if the band had been through it all and have come back on the other side with some knowledge to impart. That would all be fine and well, but this is Bully's first full length record. Alicia Bognanno's voice screams and shouts about all the things on her mind with the power of Sleater-Kinney never letting up on the music. The sound is paired down but never crosses into that Lo-Fi genre. Instead this record is more of a throwback than anything else. It sounds and feels just like the 90s, add some flannel and this band could have been right at home in the Seattle grunge scene. The bass buzzes along with a pick acting as almost a second rhythm guitar rather than a true deep line. There is however something intoxicating about their sound despite the fact that it might be a bit dated. What seems to really come across is the honesty and the plain way that Bognanno speaks. She says exactly what is on her mind and does not try to soften it up with flowery language.

This record is surprisingly short. At just over a half hour you look up and suddenly you have gone all the way through it. It only takes a few seconds of listening to get a hold of the hooks and start nodding your head right along. Much of the album finds Bognanno trying to justify her existence or her reaction to certain situations. On "Six" she is still trying to make amends for breaking her sister's arm when they were kids. It is all so raw and right on the surface that listening and probably writing becomes a type of catharsis. The punk aspect of the record is it's rawness and use of the real sounds of the instruments rather than putting them through some pedals or synths. This album comes across as a pretty solid indie release but it really does not have the chops to garner any kind of major buzz. However if this is where this band begins it is really going to be something to see where they end up.

6.9 out of 10