As the front woman and mastermind behind Nashville-transplant band Bully, Alicia Bognanno comes right out of a 90s rock enthusiast’s dream. From her bleach-blonde hair that appears a week overdue for a wash, baggy vintage t-shirts that she wears over her petite body frame, and her surf green electric guitar that is the catalyst for the band’s genius grungy tones, she’s everything any admirer of rock could ask for…and more.
To capture the essence of Bognanno and Bully, imagine a modern-day Courtney Love joined your favorite high school garage rock band. Take away former Mrs. Cobain’s off-key singing and sloppy guitar riffs. Add vocal influence of Pixies rocker Kim Deal. A much better picture is now painted of 25-year-old Bognanno.
But don’t mention pictures to the Bully front woman, who battles self-image issues, a seemingly toxic relationship, and even her period on the band’s debut album. In “Picture,” Bognanno reveals some of these exact themes when she screams about a picture of herself: “I hate it so much!”
Similarly, “Bully” is the band’s ode to their very own band name, where Alicia raves of her battles with her inner demons. She refers to them as her bully. “I know it’s out of my control but I can’t let out a beast that lives inside of me,” she confesses.
She continues to describe the struggle with her bully, who seems to be a devil on the young rocker’s shoulder. By the end Bognanno seems to come to terms with her bully and sings in a pixie-like register:
“There’s a place for a beast like you, not in my head…get out of my head,” then screams, “Calm your bully!” It’s a shriek that would send any elementary school playground bully running away in fear.
In “Trash,” which contains the lyrics that give Feels Like its album title, a slow distorted bass riff introduces the first verse in a punk-like trance. “I wonder what else you’ve lied about,” Bognanno begins in a fairy-toned, soft voice. By the time the chorus comes around, the front woman is screaming, “It feels like trash!” with heavily distorted guitars backing her extreme vocal. The second verse invokes uncomfortable emotion when the blonde rocker admits, “It’s magic how you make me feel like trash,” but follows up by sarcastically telling her pretentious ex-boyfriend, “The only news I have for you is you can’t write a book about what you don’t know.”
Other mentionable songs include “Six,” where Bognanno starts by screaming without warning, “When I was six I broke my sister’s arm!” She also exposes a softer side of herself in the lyric, “I would never make you feel the way some people would make me feel…fuck those jerks, they don’t know you’re great, but I do.”
Despite heavy emotional subject matter, Feels Like isn’t short of any lyrical irony from the Milwaukee-born rocker. In “Trying” Bognanno begins the first verse by casually mentioning her period, while in the light-hearted “Brainfreeze” she refers to her beloved dog as “a four-legged beauty queen.”
Analog recording buffs will appreciate Bognanno’s history with Steve Albini’s Electrical Studio in Chicago, where the young audio engineer served as an intern in her college days. The analog recording approach influenced Bully’s debut where the front woman unleashes her inner Rivers Cuomo to resemble the style of Weezer’s 1996 Pinkerton.
Feels Like is estrogen rage rock at its finest, but it also contains core genre elements that all rock listeners can appreciate. A male with a less than perfect dating history and shaky conscious may be left feeling uncomfortable after listening to it. If those select few can get past the fact that Alicia Bognanno is probably screaming about a similar shitty ex-boyfriend, then Feels Like is a rare record that can thrive in any rock playlist as a staple.
Visit Bully’s website to view upcoming tour dates – don’t miss a show near your city.
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Great post! I want anotherrrrr!
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