Bleach

Again, For the First Time (Tooth & Nail)
by Emily Joyce

Remember that nice guy you knew was completely in love with you, but you never gave the time of day? Bleach is that guy in band form. Their first record with Tooth & Nail, Again, For the First Time, combines sappy-sweet lyrics with pop punk sound. Bleach has the typically-processed, heavy-marketed, Jimmy Eat World/MxPx sound but this band takes pride in their words and upbeat energy, as in “We Are Tomorrow.” The CD contains mostly love ballads about the girl who never was and dealing with what life hands you, set to soft drums and slow guitar riffs. The vocals are strong and the back-and-forth motion between lead and back-up add movement to each track. The use of consistently rhyming lyrics becomes overdone about halfway through the CD, but, toward the end, they compensate with the fast-paced “Almost Too Late” and acoustic “Jenn.”
(PO Box 12698 Seattle, WA 98111)