Do you think there’s any truth to a pitbull puppy pissing off of a balcony on “Wound Up Here (By Holdin On)”? In Karly Hartzman strange world of a dirtbag hipster-goth Americana, catching these stray moments with opportune timing, come all too supernatural in her sense in observation and penmanship. Rest assured, the events that unfold are someone, somewhere’s story. With Bleeds, the fifth full-length effort from her band, Wednesday, the art of doing so becomes her distinct signature alone in sculpting words around sound, and reaches it’s most rugged finesse.

It’s really been headed in this direction ever since the band’s two-fold breakthrough of 2021’s Twin Plagues and 2023’s Rat Saw God introduced the outside world at large to Hartzman and company’s mundane malaise, dressing up the morbidities of daily living and harnessing them into a loud-soft sonic collision of indie rock and shoegaze with a Southern rock accent. Here on Bleeds, we’re hearing Hartzman carve out these faceted styles within her niche in greater detail with a meticulous bend of the knife.

“Reality TV Argument Bleeds”, the listen’s turbulent yet miraculously balanced opener, sets the pace at which Wednesday will twist tongues throughout. Screeching guitars, head-sick feedback, and the occasional lazed reprieve amidst the personal wreckage — it’s got all the descript emotions going through the motions before they begin to rupture and recoil back into a single tributary. The subsequent “Townies” does the same from the opposite end in splintering simple thistle and the wane of Wednesday’s pour on alt-country revivalism before battling it out with the loud turmoil of the local rumor mill. Those looking for smoother sips of drama will have “Elderberry Wine”, the caffeinated jam chaser of “Phish Pepsi”, and the blood of “Carolina Murder Suicide” to indulge them more steadily while full-blown chaos masochists get the bursting bittersweet taste of “Candy Breath” and the ketamine-fueled Juggalo reverie “Bitter Everyday” to leave them dead.

And as for the elephant in the room named Jake and his soft departure as a touring member of the band since setting off his own indie rock fireworks last year, his presence is hardly shadowing regardless of what degree his contributions to these recordings were. Let that be a final reminder to everyone that Wednesday and has always been Karly Hartzman’s weird world that we’re just lucky enough to be privy to be a part of. Pissing puppies and all.

Highlights: “Wound Up Here (By Holdin On)”, “Elderberry Wine” “Candy Breath”

Wednesday’s Bleeds is available now on Dead Oceans.

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