“God’s plan unfolds so slow!” screams Karly Hartzman, leader of North Carolina’s Wednesday, erupting in frustration during one of her searing vignettes of small-town life. The electrifying Bleeds is a parade of hard-living folks who can’t get out of their own way, sabotaging any chance of survival with clueless or intentionally self-destructive behavior. Flannery O’Connor’s Southern Gothic fiction can seem tame by comparison.
What could have been a creepy freak show, however, is touching and darkly funny, thanks to her deceptively thoughtful lyrics and obvious affection for these ill-starred characters. And she has a thrilling band to bring it all to life. In addition to Hartzman (vocals, guitar), the quintet includes MJ Lenderman (guitar, back-up vocals), whose own solo career has flourished lately, and the nimble Xandy Chelmis (lap and pedal steel, back-up vocals). Not quite polished but always hitting the right note, this perfectly imperfect band can shift gears on a dime, ranging from heavy guitar rock inspired by 1990s titans Nirvana and Dinosaur Jr. to the softest ballad to drunken honky-tonk, sometimes within the same song.
