Alicia Bognanno occasionally wonders if people will think she’s a mess, but takes comfort in knowing everyone goes through their own shit. The singer/guitarist/producer puts herself out there with raw lyrics and garage-rock sounds. Also, she’s got balls. For Bully’s debut album, Feels Like (out June 23), the four-piece recorded live at Steve Albini’s Electrical Audio in Chicago, doing as few takes as possible. That’s Bognanno, drummer Stewart Copeland, guitarist Clayton Parker, and Reece Lazarus on bass. Once performances were captured, songs were mixed on the spot to retain the urgency of the music. The rawer, the better for Bully. What jumps out is Bognanno’s graveled scream. She’s sultry and puckish at lower levels, but when she hits a scream, it’s pure punk voltage…
