Review
Bleached
Welcome the Worms

Fuelled by intense introspection and the adopting of a more polished sound, Welcome the Worms marries punk rock sensibilities with the radiant bubblegum pop of Southern California. Produced by Joe Chiccarelli (Morrissey, The Strokes, Minus The Bear), Bleached's second album is radio friendly rock with a serrated edge, channelling the likes of Black Flag alongside The Go-Gos.

The album's title was taken from a homemade religious pamphlet given to the band by "a freaky couple" in Echo Park, and sets the tone for the meandering and enduring shape of the album. WTW is heavily rooted in Los Angeles, and embodies a frisson of energy that is equal parts menacing (the eerie weaving of "Desolate Town") and buoyant (the bubblegum pop of "Keep On Keepin' On"). The album manages to capture a miasma of disillusionment with the glamourous side of Hollywood that's in stark contrast to the complete immersion into the gritty, off-kilter parts of the city that the album embraces. Jessie Clavin's staggered, trippy guitar playing on "I'm All Over The Place (Mystic Mama)" is the summer haze of the Californian desert, while "Sour Candy" is the swagger of the morning after the night before.

The trio hit their stride on punchier tracks like "Sleepwalking" and "Wasted on You", cementing a feverish grunge sound that is knitted into WTW's tapestry. For all the excessive "woah-oh-ohs" that infect this album and nudge it into saccharine territory, you can't help but be reeled back in by the pummelling drums and syrupy reverb that is peppered throughout.

Bleached's first release Ride Your Heart was less defiant and more considered, like an elongated love letter to the failure of relationships, whereas WTW is an aggressive rebirth, prompted by pursuing fleeting moments of desire that no longer define them. California surf pop has never sounded so invitingly confrontational.