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Bleached make music to soundtrack a Southern California summer: swaying palms, shimmering asphalt, hot leather car seats on the backs of your legs. On their first record, 2013’s Ride Your Heart, sisters Jennifer and Jessie Clavin traded in Mika Miko’s brat punk for sunny, reverb-washed guitar riffs and girl group harmonies. Ride Your Heart was a surf-pop summertime daydream, everything seen through rose colored Ray-Bans.

Now, three years later, things have changed, as they tend to do. The women of Bleached have gone through some personal shit, partied out their heartbreak and done some serious soul-searching, and their latest record, Welcome the Worms, displays a newly found confidence. If Ride Your Heart is a hazy summer day, Welcome the Worms is what happens once the sun goes down. It’s heavier and louder, more swagger than swoon.

The record starts out with a literal bang; the first sound of the first song ‘Keep On Keepin’ On’ is a snare-cymbal combo: a starting gun signalling the beginning of an exuberant race. The guitar is fiercer, the drums wallop and the vocals are less pretty, more gritty. With its driving guitar, echoey handclaps and “woo woo” backing vocals, the song (and, really, the entire album) feels like a celebration.

In the second song, ‘Trying to Lose Myself Again’, Jennifer sings, “I don’t wanna live my life the way you think is right / ‘Cause I know what I want and I know what I like / Keep on feelin’ good, just like I always should.” And this album does feel good, both musically and lyrically.

There’s the Weezer-esque guitar-stomping ‘Wednesday Night Melody’, followed by ‘Wasted On You’, an infectious pop-punk jam. And while the verses’ lyrics are about being caught in the desire for a person you know is bad for you, the chorus is the self-affirming truth: “I can’t keep wasting my emotions on you.”

In ‘Sour Candy’ Jennifer sings about “giving in to giving up”, losing herself in the social whirlwind in order to forget. In contrast, the melody is pure anthem, with an arena-rock ‘Teenage Kicks’ guitar riff and a sing-along chorus. Although things may be less than ideal, she’s not wallowing in self-pity, instead she’s saying ‘This is how it is, and I’m okay with that’.

But the most interesting – and riskiest – song on the album is ‘Desolate Town’, with its sneering vocals and screeching guitars, and a bassline that’s meant to be played loud, at a show in some dirty basement. While much of the record feels polished to a shine, ‘Desolate Town’ is more jagged, more out of control, and could be a glimpse into an exciting new direction for the band.

As a whole, Welcome the Worms shows Bleached crossing into new territory, both sonically and emotionally. We’re reminded that not everything is always peachy, that we may be adults, but we still sometimes feel lost. Rather than despairing, Bleached take charge, moving forward and not looking back.

Melissa Jong (Women Warriors)