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Apr 15, 2016 Web Exclusive By Matthew Berlyant

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. Now, after a three-year gestation period only abetted by a 2014 single, they return. While retaining much of the melodic sensibility that is their greatest strength, the other factors that helped make their debut extraordinary are in shorter supply here. Producer Joe Chicarrelli (Morrissey, Springhouse) strips away some of their harsher edges in favor of a straightforward sound not unlike Best Coast or Weezer. Bleached have a knack for delivering a total knockout blow on each album’s fourth track and “Wednesday Night Melody” is a mid-paced number full of as many hooks as Ride‘s phenomenal cleanup track “Dead in Your Head.” It answers the question of what would happen if the glam rock stomp of Joan Jett’s “I Love Rock and Roll” and Def Leppard’s “Pour Some Sugar on Me” were merged with the chorus of Dobie Gray’s “Drift Away.” Elsewhere, the album’s best song is “Chemical Air,” another track with an incredible hook that wouldn’t have been out of place on Best Coast’s latest. “Sour Candy” is also notable for quoting Wilco’s iconic “I Am Trying to Break Your Heart” in one of its lyrics. (www.facebook.com/HelloBleached/)

Author rating: 6.5/10