Review: Bully – Feels Like

Bully
Feels Like

Columbia
Street: 06.23
Bully = Japandroids + Best Coast + Yuck

The first thing that came to my raised-on-Disney brain upon hearing Bully was that if Ashley Spinelli from Recess—9 and donning moto boots—started a band, it would sound like this. Overwhelming at first–maybe with the volume of rock-solid grindy guitar and Alicia Bognanno’s ragged scream-to-croon-to-holler vocals (“Trying,” especially)—Bully build up an impenetrable wall of sound, sans any arbitrary-sounding fuzz. This crystal-clear production hints at intense time and care that’s resulted in something of an exemplary rock album. With the help of compelling and relatable lyrics about life’s roughness (“When I was eight, I broke my own arm!” and “I remember my old habits / I remember getting too fucked up”), not only does this album contain the essence of attitude, it pulls at heartstrings like they’re shredded on guitar strings. –Erin Moore