Bleeds – Wednesday Album Review

Bleeds is the sixth full-length album released by Asheville, North Carolina natives, Wednesday. This record returns to the familiar alternative-country and indie/alternative influenced sound that fans have become accustomed to, with lead singer Karly Hartzman really shining through vocally and lyrically. Bleeds is a follow up to Wednesday’s 2023 release, Rat Saw God, that garnered the attention of critics and fans alike, and if anything, it exceeds the expectations set by the previous record. The album opens with “Reality TV Argument Bleeds” and this track sets the tone for the rest of the record. It begins with the droning feedback of the guitar and drums that slowly build tension, until Karly’s muffled screams lead to a melodic and grungy riff reminiscent of what you would expect out of a band of the nerdiest guys you have ever seen looking down at their ridiculously large pedal boards. What is truly amazing about Wednesday is that they manage to meld so many jarringly different genres in a smooth way that is simply undeniable. The end of this track takes the listener to one of my personal favorites on the record, “Townies”. “Townies” is a flowery and charming song that pulls influence from Karly’s adolescence in Greensboro, North Carolina, and builds to a cathartic chorus that states “they’re just townies, I’ll catch up when I’m around.” The third track of the album, “Wound Up Here (By Holdin On),” is another song that blinds the listener with gorgeous instrumentation while also presenting some of the darkest moments of the record lyrically. Come up next on the record is the lead single and fan-favorite, “Elderberry Wine”, which tells a story of struggling mentally/personally, but still getting along with those close to you and having a good time, with this song being one of the truest examples of a country song on this record, with a twangy solo that separates the last two solos feeling straight out of a Merle Haggard track. Listeners with a keen ear may also notice the backup vocals during the chorus of the track done by none other than guitarist and co-writer, MJ Lenderman. Fifth on the album is the alliterate “Phish Pepsi”, in which Hartzman writes of an experience in which she reunited with an old friend and watched a Phish concert and The Human Centipede, two things she wished she never saw. Up next is “Candy Breath”, which may be one of the weaker songs on the record, but the guitar work here is simply superb. The next track, “The Way Love Goes”, not only has an interesting story, but is also a chillingly gorgeous love song. The backstory of this song lies hugely in an article that Hartzman wrote for Vulture magazine, in which she revealed that tracks “Elderberry Wine” and “The Way Love Goes” were love songs that she was singing for MJ Lenderman (referred to as Jake) after they had already ended their six year relationship. Hartzman was inspired to write this song when she heard “That’s the Way Love Goes” by Merle Haggard on an Outlaw Country radio station in Lenderman’s minivan. Hartzman also revealed that this track took multiple takes to record, as many of the takes had been ruined by tears. Lenderman stepped away from touring with Wednesday in February of this year but remains a member of the recording band. In the next track, “Pick Up That Knife”, Hartzman seems to release a lot of the anger and negative emotions that come with the end of a relationship. Some highlights lyrically come about a third of the way through the song, when Hartzman calmly sings “Did you think we’d make it? Can’t budge the water down the broken drain.” This song also includes a favorite line of the year for me, “Threw up in the pit at the Death Grips show”. The hook of this track is immensely catchy, as Hartzman repeatedly sings, and later yells, “They’ll meet you outside.” Up next is a shocking stray from the calm alt-country sensibilities of the record, “Wasp”. This track only lasts for one minute and twenty-six seconds and could very easily be mistaken for a track from a hardcore punk band, and it is packed with dark lyrics and unadulterated hatred. “Bitter Everyday” comes next on the record, and is another great track that ends with yet another great line, “And the sweetest parts of life keep gettin’ bitter everyday.” The second to last track on the record is a hauntingly sad track entitled “Carolina Murder Suicide” which tells the story of a murder-suicide that occurred in a house that Hartzman lived next to. In this track, Hartzman wrestles with grief and sings “The house collapses, bhut the fire kept on burning at the scraps, and I wondered if grief could break you in half.” The final track of the record, “Gary’s II”, tells the story of Hartzman and Lenderman’s landlord Gary, who was attacked at a bar with a baseball bat by a man that had mistaken him as the guy that his wife had cheated on him with and then lost all of his teeth as a result of the scuffle and had to get false teeth put in. This track is simply an amazing country song with a great twang. As a testament to how great this song is as a country song, I showed it to my dad, who is not a huge fan of most music that I show him, and he loved it and said it was a great track. Overall, I would give this record an 8.5/10. My favorites from the record are: “Townies”, “Wound Up Here (By Holdin On)”, “Elderberry Wine”, and “Gary’s II”.