The general feeling of wanton disregard is far too often missing from today’s rock music. While I wouldn’t describe Bully’s music as reckless, there’s no mistaking the feeling deep inside that makes me want to scream my best screams and charge into whatever I’m doing. The studio albums are loaded with amounts of distortion matching the coarse nature of certain lyrics like Hard to Love. I honestly miss this style of rock and haven’t really connected with something similar since the mid-nineties. I had built a brand for Bully in my head: Loud, Sometimes Fast, Honest, Brutal even. I wasn’t sure what to expect once I learned that the performance I was about to see would be a solo performance by Bully’s founder Alicia Bognanno.
Would I get the same feelings? Would the energy be possible?
The performance far exceeded my expectations and showed me a side of Bully I hadn’t really had a chance to get to know yet. While Bognanno spent most of the evening serenading us from her electric guitar, there were a number of songs that were performed on piano. And connecting all the ’90s dots for me there was even a cover of Mazzy Star’s Fade Into You. Bognanno’s lyrical stylings were angelic. It’s a special thing to be able to scream and shout on key but also take it way back to a perfect whisper. Like a rose surrounded by lava—inexplicably beautiful.
