While Team Nerdist was down in Austin for SXSW, I made a point of purchasing earplugs and then scurrying quickly to catch a set from the Tennessee-based rock band, Bully. Fronted by Alicia Bognanno, who is both the main songwriter and audio engineer of the reminiscent foursome, than band ripped through a 25 minute set in a way that felt like a natural disaster: afterward everything felt eerily different than just moments earlier. Everything was obviously okay–it was just a concert after all–but I knew for sure that I had borne witness to something bigger than I had anticipated. I was mostly glad I remembered to put in ear plugs because I knew they would have eviscerated my eardrums while the playing through material from their new album, Feels Like.
My favorite track they played that temperate day in Texas was the ascendant “Trying”, which begins as a deceivingly languorous lament about life in general and sublimates into a smash-your-chair-into-the-wall anthem about just trying to get by. Bognanno’s frustration is a palpable source of combustion as the song heads into its chorus and you hear her scream “Tryin’ to hide from my mind!” Her personal problems feel like they have the magnitude of an F-4 tornado and its exhilarating to try to chase the storm.
For a more in depth conversation with Bognanno and the rest of the band, be sure to read our interview with them. And let us know if you dig the track in the comments below.
Image by Angelina Costillio
