Over the course of two albums, Bully’s Alicia Bognanno has lyrically navigated through the darkness with personal, urgent, and grungy punk rock cloaked in melody and hooks. She has long used music as a cathartic outlet, and that doesn’t change on the brand new album ‘SUGAREGG’. But this time while she completely lays her soul bare, in the process she turns toward the light.
‘It’s not easy to talk to you‘ she howls on the first line of the propulsive ‘Add It On‘. Even though she may not be speaking directly to the listener, her vulnerable yet literate lyrics about her winning battle with bipolar II disorder, relationships and her bisexuality are powerfully intensified by her beautiful and powerful voice. It has been a time of change for the guitarist/singer-songwriter/engineer, and for the album, Bognanno split from guitarist Clayton Parker, bassist Reece Lazarus, and drummer Stewart Copeland, instead recording with bassist Zach Dawes (Mini Mansions, Last Shadow Puppets) and touring drummer Wesley Mitchell. She also handed over the engineering and production reins to John Congleton (Modest Mouse, St. Vincent).
Tough subject matter aside, lyrically nothing on ‘SUGAREGG’ comes across as melancholic. Maybe some frustration, and a feeling of finally standing up and ultimately standing her ground. But Bognanno’s words are relatable, not preachy, optimistic, not hopeless. It’s life. It just is what it is. Musically it’s not all grunge heaviness either. ‘Where To Start‘, ‘Every Tradition‘, and ‘Like Fire‘ for instance, highlight Bognanno’s ability to write a pop hook. Much like the bones to a good house, any one of these tracks would stand out recorded acoustically.
Overall, the songs on ‘SUGAREGG’ retain the 90s revival feel of Bully’s first two releases, but the overused Hole comparison isn’t really applicable here. Hell, there’s even an undercurrent of Swervedriver-esque shoegaze pop. 2020 is full of challenges, and releasing an album as good as ‘SUGAREGG’ into a world without tours has got to be tough. But ‘SUGAREGG’ reveals that Bognanno is ready for anything, “I’m not angry anymore, I’m not holding onto that“.
