Don't You Think You've Had Enough?

Some songs miss the mark—“I Get What I Need”’s creeping, bluesy bassline proves awkward—but most of them work, if only because the band sounds like they’re truly putting their all into their melodies and riffs, rather than leaving the heavy lifting to distortion.

Despite the over-production that occasionally takes away from the Clavins’ raw talent, the album itself tells vital truths about the codependence of addicts (“This is hell and I can’t hide / But you’re keeping me alive / Saying such sweet things to me”), the rose-colored glasses worn when remembering the days before being consumed by alcoholism (“Yeah I know how this ends / And I’d watch it again / Every loss and win,”) and the importance of acknowledging sobriety as a continuous journey.

Still, true to their L.A. roots, they can't quite abandon the love-stricken cliches taken from their eighties influences, from revisionist West Hollywood glam (Heartbeat Away) and Bomp! records-inspired rock (Rebound City, which sounds like a homage to 20/20's Beat City) to tight, driving rhythms (Real Life).

Though Bleached are still figuring out how to use their newfound clarity, the process finds them generating sparks like never before.

Don't You Think You've Had Enough? may not end up as an all-time great rock album, but as a summer record with big sing-along songs, it delivers.

The cohesiveness of the 12 tracks on the album show the songwriting has matured and that Bleached is focused on what they do best rather than exploring a new direction or sound. And what they do best is to soften the blow of punk's raw energy with some pop hooks and sweet vocal melodies.

Bratty autobiography still peaks though the clean and healthy Californian veneer. [Aug 2019, p.26]

There are layers to Bleached that are yet to be uncovered. Whether it's worth waiting for is a question still left unanswered.

While their new guise has them in a more experimental mood - injecting doses of nostalgia all over the shop - it also doesn’t quite possess the same level of clout as before.