Out in support of their excellent third album Don’t You Think You’ve Had Enough?, a sober and existential culmination of several years of personal reflection and self-care, LA punk outfit Bleached are set to make their return to Music City for their first local headliner in three years tonight, Sept. 25 at Exit/In with likeminded LA up and comers The Paranoyds. One of our favorite punk and garage acts from their earliest days, Bleached are a group you absolutely must see live to fully appreciate, and you can do just that by snagging tickets right here, then read on for more about the show below!
BLEACHED
Los Angeles punk outfit Bleached are anchored by sisters Jennifer and Jessie Clavin, who, since their teenage years spent jamming in their parents’ San Fernando Valley garage, have collaborated on various projects, most prominently former band Mika Miko. After that group split, Jennifer and Jessie briefly went their separate ways, but reconvened around the start of the decade to form Bleached, adding more pop hooks and melodic sensibility to their grungy, raw punk sound, and making a strong first impression with 2013’s Ride Your Heart. With 2016 sophomore effort Welcome the Worms, the band attracted even more widespread attention, employing the production duties of Joe Chiccarelli (Morrissey, The Strokes, Elton John) and Carlos de la Garza (Paramore, YACHT), and incorporating then-bassist Micayla Grace into the creative process, for a more emotionally focused, lyrically substantive, melody-driven work, a trend continued on the following year’s Can You Deal? EP, which dropped with an accompanying feminist zine stuffed with high-profile contributions. A beloved fixture in the punk scene and a regular staple on the festival circuit, Bleached’s past couple of years have been comparatively more quiet, as the Clavin sisters opted to focus on self-growth, becoming sober and moving away from their previous party-fueled lifestyle. That shift in headspace and lifestyle fueled the creative process of their latest and third LP, Don’t You Think You’ve Had Enough?, notably the group’s first written while sober. Produced by Shane Stoneback, the record feels like the culmination of the band’s musical journey, both with Bleached and their broader SoCal musical upbringing, retaining their punk bite but exploring broader sonic territory with more polish an focus and personal earnestness than ever before. We’ve seen these gals rip live quite a few times in recent years, and they’re always the most fun in intimate spots like this- catch them while you can before they inevitably graduate to bigger rooms.
THE PARANOYDS
Though their debut LP, Carnage Bargain, just dropped this month, The Paranoyds have been kicking around the LA punk scene for a few years, having already become a staple in underground and DIY spaces, touring the nation with likeminded acts such as Tacocat and DIIV, and garnering critical praise for a string of EPs and singles. Though their genesis traces back to a lifelong friendship between frontman Staz Lindes (who’s also an incredibly accomplished model) and keyboardist Laila Hashemi, who obsessed over the LA punk scene in their teens, and even uploaded some early demos to MySpace, it wasn’t until many years later around 2015, the then-twenty-somethings recruited bassist Lexi Funston and drummer David Ruiz to formally form the group, the first real band for all members. Combining a grungy, richly layered punk with fuzzy, garage rock bite, infused with surf, riot grrrl, post-punk, and pop hooks and earnest, raw, lyricism, the band deserve all of the buzz they’ve managed to amass in such a short time, and feel perfectly primed to support Bleached. If you don’t know ’em already, give the new record a spin and be sure to show up early!
Bleached and The Paranoyds will perform tonight, Sept. 25 at Exit/In. The show is 18+, begins at 8 p.m. (doors at 7 p.m.), and tickets are available to purchase for $17.
