Photo by Graham Tolbert 

The sweet taste of “Elderberry Wine” went down as smooth as a Wednesday song can upon its release, yet it’s always the dirty grit being stirred up in slice-of-life form loudly by the Asheville rockers that sticks to these page’s ears better. “Wound Up Here (By Holdin On)”, the second single from the band’s forthcoming album, Bleeds, manages to kick up a whole entire cloud of that in front of your face.

No need to speculate on any breakup insights between lead vocalist and guitarist Karly Hartzman and gone-solo-but-still-a-member contributing axeman MJ Lenderman here — Hartzman lends this listen’s morbid fate to a story tangently inspired by a friend who was tasked at pulling a body out of a creek in West Virginia, days after wading through a rough current. She lets her mind venture deeper into the dark from there, spilled out in all her descript southernisms of imagery even if the sun’s beating down.

“Misread your name at the wake / Snack from a vending machine / Like a smack on the ass / At the back of a dream,” she sings through the squalor of country-fried shoegaze. “Mounted antlers in the kitchen on a crooked nail / Other killers keep teeth keep the fingernails.” Death re-emerges in such strangely delightful ways when you’re interpreting it through Hartzman’s eyes.

Directed by: Joriel Cura

Wednesday’s Bleeds will be released September 18th on Dead Oceans.