Wednesday’s Bleeds is a loud, sharply written Southern rock album from the Asheville, North Carolina band. Karly Hartzman’s songs move through arguments, family damage, small-town violence and strange flashes of humour, with details that feel pulled from overheard life rather than polished into general truths. The music keeps changing shape around them. Lap steel and pedal steel bring country colour, Ethan Baechtold’s bass and piano add weight, and Jake “M.J.” Lenderman’s guitar can turn from a hook into a slab of noise. Alan Miller’s drums keep the whole thing moving.
Recorded at Drop of Sun in Asheville with Alex Farrar, who has worked with Wednesday since Twin Plagues, Bleeds follows Rat Saw God’s mix of indie-rock hooks, country rock and noisy sludge without sounding like a copy. The band built the arrangements together from Hartzman’s demos, and the words seem to decide when a song should buckle, lurch or open up. “Reality TV Argument Bleeds,” “Phish Pepsi” and “Carolina Murder Suicide” give the tracklist its particular sense of place, while “Elderberry Wine” and “Wound Up Here (By Holdin On)” show how much feeling the band can fit into a rough-edged frame. Fans of narrative-heavy indie rock, alt-country and guitars pushed well past clean will find plenty here, though the volume and subject matter can be a lot. It’s available as a paid release in FLAC 16/44, ALAC, WAV, AIFF and MP3 320, alongside vinyl and CD.
