Welcome the Worms
With the opening “Keep On Keepin’ On”—a forceful, distorted chugger bolstered by an infectious chorus—Bleached lay out the blueprint for *Welcome the Worms*. The L.A. band’s second album is filled with vicious but vivacious bangers, each sugary hook smeared with grime, as heard in the dizzying pound of “Trying to Lose Myself Again” or the Joan Jett-indebted snarl of “Sour Candy.” The unabashedly ’80s power pop muscle of “Hollywood, We Did It All Wrong” ends things with a glorious bang that’ll pull you right back to the start.
Los Angeles-based sister duo Jennifer and Jessie Clavin knew things were going to be different for their band Bleached sophomore LP 'Welcome The Worms'. Not only had they managed to charm world renowned producer Joe Chiccarelli (Morrissey, The Strokes, Elton John) to join the sisters and their bassist Micayla Grace in the studio, but Jen and Jessie had been crawling out of their own personal dramas. While emotionally spinning, they dove head first into music. The three girls spent time writing the 10 song LP at a remote house in Joshua Tree, away from the distractions of the city. Other times Jen and Jessie worked alone, just like when they were teenaged punk brats playing in their parents’ garage, imitating their heroes The Slits, Black Flag and Minor Threat. In the studio, Chiccarelli and co-producer Carlos de la Garza (Paramore, YACHT) helped the band perfect their fervent songs into fearlessly big pop melodies. They drew inspiration from the iconic hits of everyone from Fleetwood Mac to Heart to Roy Ayers. The result is an ambitious rock record with a new found pop refinement that somehow still feels like the Shangri-Las on speed, driven forward in a wind of pot and petals, a wall of guitars in the back seat.
L.A.-based quartet Bleached carve out a new identity on their latest, fast-forwaring past '60s revivalism into jagged and precise '70s rock edge.
The transformation undertaken between Bleached’s 2013 debut Ride Your Heart and 2016’s Welcome The Worms is a familiar one. Where Bleached’s debut is a gritty, raw piece of garage rock, the group’s latest effort is more polished, with tightly finessed melodies and a glistening bit of production from big-time producer…
The Los Angeles sister act turn personal turmoil into assured pop-rock.
Discover Welcome the Worms by Bleached released in 2016. Find album reviews, track lists, credits, awards and more at AllMusic.
The latest record from Los Angeles rockers Bleached is sonically pleasing, yet ultimately unoriginal. The ten-song sophomore LP is all-aroun...
Bleached seemed to emerge fully formed on their excellent 2013 debut Ride Your Heart. A stunning combination of pop smarts, reverb, and some slight experimentation, it was one of that year's finest albums.
Until their split in 2010, art punks Mika Miko became known for their notoriously frenzied shows at LA dive bar The Smell, part of the same messy lo-fi
'Welcome The Worms' by Bleached, album review by Adam williams. The full-length comes out on April 1 on Dead Oceans. Bleached play 3/29 in Santa Barbara, CA
That’s the city that Bleached attempt to capture on their second album, though, disappointingly, their peroxide-pop garage-rock is hardly Broad City-goes-punk.