Album Review: Bully’s “Losing” Teaches You How To Lose Better
Losing is the hardest thing a human being can do. We, literally, mold our lives to protect ourselves from loss. Yet, it is inevitable, and the impact can leave us permanently and mentally framing ourselves as a loser. Bully’s sophomore record , Losing, completely avoids the cursed “slump” to deliver an epitaph to all the times you felt like less because you lost.
From simmered and scourging chords that inflame imagination to the razoring and softening vocals of Alicia Bognanno, Losing does not cower at the sight of loss. Tracks like, “Blame”, “Not The Way”, “Kill To Be Restraint”, and “Seeing It” feel like they were personally written by guilt, shame, and doubt. These “mighty” three are amongst the layered negativity that spears our self-image to constantly see life as half-empty. Thus, listeners will grovel at how lyrically poignant Bully is when showing losing sucks! The more you want, invest, and love something the bigger its inevitable leave from your life feels like a cosmic betrayal. “Hate And Control”, “Feel The Same”, and “Guess There” rile in the confusion and self-pity that comes from “another thing going wrong”. Whether it be love or just not winning that “prize”, Bognanno’s capacity to sound like rage, itself, is what makes her sound classic punk legend. She treats anger like a seat-belt she is learning to “calmly wear” as she screeches and slits her vocals to show life is a car, and, if you let your losses drive it, it will crash. The concept is a wise view for a better life.
As I listened to Bully’s Losing I could not help but think of two things I learned from my Dagny’s Interview. The first lesson is that music is a reminder of what we need to grow and heal about ourselves. From the need for patience to a must for self-awareness, tracks like “Running”, “Spiral”, and “Either Way” oscillate between octane melodies and voracious verses on how wanting to “win” but feeling setup to fail. The second lesson is the power of music when it goes from representing emotion to embodying it. Losing encapsulates the self-loathing that comes from loss, and, in doing that, you feel less alone in healing it. For More Information On Bully And To Buy Losing On October 20 Click Here.
