The last time Bully cut through town on a club date in 2015, they tore up the small but packed out Drunken Unicorn. This time around the band is out supporting their excellent new release on Sub Pop Records, Losing, and justifiably so, the much bigger Terminal West is the venue of choice in Atlanta.
Like their debut record, Bully’s new record is packed full of 2 and 3 minute blasts of 90’s era indie-rock/punk revolving around Alicia Bognanno’s confessional songwriting, guitar bursts, and her magnificent vocal snarl.
Opening the show on this night was Material Girls from Atlanta. I’ve seen them described before as a drag-punk six-piece but when you figure in a few horns, percussion and some rollicking keyboard work, I think you’d be coming up short in getting the full picture. 4 rotating lead singers, a killer guitar player and rhythm section with over the top stage personas has me grasping for comparisons but I’ve landed on Gang of Four, Captain Beefheart, early Psychedelic Furs, Nick Cave and the B-52s for starters.
Next up were Smut from Cincinnati, OH. Out supporting their excellent new LP, End of Sam-soon, their sound is equal parts dream pop and shoegaze. It was great to hear the energy and lush sound of their record get taken up a notch with the guitars up to 11 and vocalist Tay Roebuck swerving back and forth between complete disengagement and tip-of-her-toes, top-of-her-voice performance.
After a bit of a break, Bully hit the stage and launched straight into “Brainfreeze” from their first EP. The crowd went nuts and for the next 18 songs and 50 minutes they never let off the gas. As expected, Alicia and the band leaned heavily on songs from Losing. “Feel the Same,” “Kills to Be Resistant,” “You Could be Wrong” and “Hate and Control” had everyone up and moving as did songs from their first EP and record such as: “Milkman,” “I Remember,” and a killer encore-closing cover of “Lightsabre Cocksucking Blues” (by McLusky) which had Alicia ditching the guitar and stalking the stage.
Check out more of John McNicholas’ photos from the show:
Material Girls “Drained” (Live at the Caledonia Lounge) via Athens GA Live Music:
