Wednesday: Bleeds [Album Review]

Wednesday
Bleeds
Dead Oceans [2025]

“From pedal-steel twang to punk-pit chaos, Bleeds hits like a live-wire indie classic.”

Album Overview: Formed in Asheville, North Carolina, Wednesday grew from Karly Hartzman’s early songwriting experiments into a dynamic five-piece with guitarist Jake “M.J.” Lenderman, lap and pedal steel player Xandy Chelmis, bassist/pianist Ethan Baechtold, and drummer Alan Miller. Over several releases—including Twin Plagues and their breakout Rat Saw God—the band has become a force in today’s indie rock scene, balancing Appalachian roots with a restless creative streak.

Following Rat Saw God—The Fire Note’s 2023 Album of the Year—expectations for Bleeds were sky-high. The record doesn’t just meet them; it stands proudly beside its predecessor. Written before Hartzman and Lenderman ended their romantic relationship, these songs wrestle with loss, memory, and the odd bits of real life that lodge in your brain. Recorded again at Drop of Sun with producer Alex Farrar, Bleeds travels from true-crime encounters to intimate portraits of neighbors and friends, all with Wednesday’s sharp eye and bold sound. Lenderman resists the easy temptation to lean on his rising solo fame, instead anchoring the band in a supporting role that lets the group’s collective chemistry shine. Wednesday’s secret weapon remains their knack for making a snarling guitar crunch sit perfectly next to pedal-steel twang, shifting from slow burn to sudden sprint with disarming ease. It’s indie rock with wide-angle appeal—backed up tenfold by a live show that hits like a freight train. Bleeds only gets better with every spin and refuses to leave your playlist anytime soon.

Musical Style: Bleeds fuses noisy guitar squall, Southern-rock grit, and pedal-steel shimmer with raw, unpolished indie melodies. The band glides from quiet, reflective passages to sudden blasts of feedback, keeping their country-tinged storytelling anchored in a rock framework that feels both rough-edged and alive.

Evolution of Sound: From the hazy noise of Twin Plagues to the fully realized Rat Saw God, Wednesday have steadily sharpened their craft. Bleeds finds them confident enough to push harder when the song calls for it and strip back when the moment needs space. The production feels natural and lived-in, giving Hartzman’s voice and the band’s interplay room to breathe. It’s a step forward that keeps the reckless charm that made their earlier records so striking.

Artists with Similar Fire: If you’re drawn to the fuzzed-out indie charm of Slow Pulp, the alt-country shimmer of Florry, country-rock groove of Waxahatchee or Hotline TNT’s shoegaze bite, Bleeds will be right in your wheelhouse. There are flashes of Drive-By Truckers’ free-wheeling storytelling and the guitar intensity of Dinosaur Jr. or Ovlov, while the poetic streak recalls the off-kilter narratives of Silver Jews. You can also hear a kindred adventurousness in the noisy sparkle of feeble little horse—bands that, like Wednesday, blur the lines between heartland grit and unfiltered indie rock.

Pivotal Tracks: “Pick Up That Knife” captures the sting of setbacks cutting twice as deep while slyly nodding to an on-tour mishap in a Death Grips pit. The 1:27 blast “Wasp” rages with punk urgency, pushing Hartzman’s voice to its scream limits. “Bitter Everyday” turns a late-night encounter into a meditation on chance and tragedy, tipping its hat to Iris DeMent’s “Easy’s Gettin’ Harder Everyday.” “Elderberry Wine” delivers a foot tapping catchy country flare with Lenderman’s vocals ghosting the chorus as they sing, “even the best champagne still tastes like elderberry wine,” and “Wound Up Here (By Holdin On)” borrows a line from Appalachian poet Evan Gray for a cathartic sing-scream. Closer “The Way Love Goes” quietly aches with the sense of a romance already slipping away.

Lyrical Strength: Hartzman writes with a documentarian’s eye and a poet’s instinct. She zooms in on vivid, sometimes bizarre details—a pit bull puppy on a balcony, a landlord’s premature dentures, a spider web across a doorway—to reveal hidden truths about place and character. Her voice bends between sweetness and fury, carrying those images with unfiltered honesty and making each song feel lived-in rather than merely told.

Final Groove: Bleeds proves Wednesday are more than a breakout success—they’re a band defining their own lane. The album’s mix of noise and nuance, heartbreak and humor, shows a group fully in command of their powers while still hungry for the next adventure. Wherever Wednesday head from here, it’s clear they’re only getting more fearless—and we’ll be listening for the next jolt.

WEDNESDAY REVIEW HISTORY
Rat Saw God (2023) / Twin Plagues (2021)

WEDNESDAY LINKS
Website | Facebook | Instagram | Bandcamp | Dead Oceans