7.5
Feels Like
Bully
Recorded at Steve Albini’s studio Electrical Audio, Feels Like is the first full-length release for Bully, the band fronted by Alicia Bognanno. Recorded, engineered and mixed by Bognanno herself, the release is an arrangement of confessional grunge-rock. Accompanied by Stewart Copeland on drums, Clayton Parker on guitar and Reece Lazarus on bass, Bognanno sings and screams about all areas of her adolescence.
Opening track “I Remember” is a series of memories, screamed and screeched. At its heart it’s a simple punk formula; “I remember getting too fucked up … I remember turning up at your house”. In “Reason” the vocals have a sweet edge – Bognanno switches between screeches and an almost sugar sweet pronunciation as thought to compensate. Bognanno asks; “Don’t you want to be apart of something bigger? Something strange is catching up to you”.
In “Trying” she sings out and repeats the words “I’m trying, I am” with such passion that they almost break. “Trash” is almost certainly a break up track – “I wonder what else you’ve lied about…” Bognanno ponders. There’s a steady yet angry delivery. Bognanno sings “Feels like trash” all punk and shout-y before going swiftly back to controlled pronunciation “I wonder…” The contrast works well, especially whilst accompanying the twangs of flat notes and guitar riffs.
“Six” has a narrative running through it “When I was six I broke my sister’s arm…When I was eight I broke my own arm… I know that doesn’t make us even”. Bognanno goes on to make a broader statement; “I would never make you feel the way the way some people make me feel, for I wouldn’t do that to you, ‘cos fuck those jerks”.
“Picture” is a thumping number whilst “Bully” pulls on teenage memories once more. “Sharktooth” closes the album with more angry reflection – “I’ll never sleep with you again…I’m not pulling out your shark tooth” and “It’s time to stop pointing fingers, it’s time to buck up Billy be a man”. So whilst Feels Like is angry there’s always a reflective narrative element running through it too – Bully manage to deliver both irreverence and sentimentality.
Reviewed by Heather Welsh.
Latest Reviews
Tracks
Related Albums
Related News
Advertisement
Looking for something new to listen to?
Sign up to our all-new newsletter for top-notch reviews, news, videos and playlists.