Bully
Feels Like
STARTIME INTERNATIONAL/COLUMBIA
8/10
Alicia Bognanno is noted for having developed her musical production style while interning at Steve Albini’s Electrical Audio studio, but as it turns out, the sound of her band Bully‘s full-length debut actually owes its legacy more to Nirvana’s Nevermind than to the Albini-produced In Utero—to PJ Harvey’s Dry rather than Rid of Me. Apples and oranges, some might say, but the distinction is worth pointing out, because beneath the anger and distortion of Feels Like, there is a catchy pop underbelly waiting to be dissected. Surgical terms are fit for use here, as Bognanno lays her heart on the table to address tough topics with a brutal candor that seems increasingly rare in today’s rock scene. It might ultimately prove too much for some, but as Bognanno notes in “Trash,” “If you didn’t want to listen / Then I wouldn’t make you.” She means it.
