Song of the Day: Bleached - Looking For a Fight

Every Monday through Friday, we deliver a different song as part of our Song of the Day podcast subscription. This podcast features exclusive KEXP in-studio performances, unreleased songs, and recordings from independent artists that our DJs think you should hear. This week, we’re featuring songs exclusively from artists playing the 2013 Capitol Hill Block Party. Today’s song is "Looking For a Fight" by Bleached from the 2013 album Ride Your Heart on Dead Oceans.

Bleached - Looking For a Fight (MP3)

Led by sisters Jennifer and Jessica Clavin, Bleached's sunny, lo-fi pop is as bright and bottle blonde-tinged as the group's name suggests. The siblings first cut their teeth in Los Angeles, comprising part of the combustive, now-defunct punk group Mika Miko. Embracing more melody and pop structure, Bleached retains the punk conviction of their former group as Jennifer and Jessica, supported by Jonathan Safley and Micayla Grace in a live setting, bring a fervent version of their songs to live on the road. Ride Your Heart's opening track, "Looking For a Fight" is filled with sharp power chords and girl group-style harmonies, but its sonics belie its lyrical teeth. When Clavin sweetly howls, "'Cause I'm looking for a fight, I lock you home at night/But you better steer clear, 'Cause you know I'm not right", it's a striking departure from the typical beaches-and-romance poetics that dominate the genre's current wave. Clavin's delivery is somewhere right between tender and deadly, making "Looking For a Fight" a song that's equally as potent during both the highs and the lows of a beach dweller's romance.

Bleached is playing Capitol Hill Block Party on Friday with Telekinesis, White Lung, and The Intelligence, and many others. Weekend passes are sold out, but single-day tickets are still available here. Keep up with Bleached at their Tumblr and Facebook, and watch the band play the Ride Your Heart track "Love Spells" live on KEXP below.