Wednesday Define Alt Country On New LP Bleeds

If ‘Indie Sleaze’ was the must-include phrase for music publications in the late 00s, the ‘new Alt Country wave’ is today’s freshest buzzword for music journalists. When it comes to Alt Country, no one understands the fusion of Alternative rock and traditional Country melodies better than Karly Hartzman. Hartzman, the face and main songwriter of North Carolina’s Wednesday, crafts the definition for the Alt Country wave on the new album, Bleeds.

Bleeds beats to the same drum as 2023’s Rat Saw God (RSG), while being a little more assured of itself. Karly’s regular blend of vintage Country songwriting and spontaneous grunge fills most of the album. Her stories are even more robust and explicit than on RSG. Wednesday reminds listeners that Country music hasn’t lost all its flavor, as Bleeds has nothing to do with what mainstream Country is today. On “Phish Pepsi” and “Candy Breath,” Hartzman mingles with a grassroots twang, like a Doug Sahm or Gram Parsons would. On “Carolina Murder Suicide,” she slows things down, as she did on her debut collaboration EP with Jake ‘MJ’ Lenderman.

One of the biggest changes for Wednesday between RSG and Bleeds is MJ taking a backseat in the band to focus on his solo work. MJ and Karly dated for many years until they split in 2024. They stayed good friends however, and MJ continued in the studio until the album was finished. Starting this year, he will contribute only as a recording member. Still, it’s hard to imagine Wednesday performing live without Lenderman; the two had gone hand in hand for six years, but with Bleeds poised to be one of 2025’s biggest records, it’s time for Karly to establish her prominence in a genre crowded by men.

Finding a comparison for Wednesday isn’t easy. Hartzman’s Y2K-style blog, Prison Divorce Bombshell, names the Drive-By Truckers, Twin Peaks, and George Saunders’ Tenth Of December as some of her faves. It’s clear Karly knows good writing. The proof is in her hooks. She takes a page from the Stephen Malkmus school of songwriting, understanding that a good first line solidifies a song. On RSG, we heard “We always started by tellin’ all our best stories first // So now that it’s been awhile, I’ll get around // To tellin’ you all my worst,” and “I can walk on water // I can raise the dead.” Pretty sick, right? The first lines on Bleeds are no different, just a bit more concise. See, “Scratch-off ticket for the education lottery,” and “Cracked my tooth on a cough drop.” Karly’s one-liners are candid and backed by a winding jam–the same way David Lynch wrote backassward episodes of Twin Peaks. 

Part of Wednesday’s draw is the “Karly Scream.” If you’ve never heard it, it’s the loudest and screechiest the group gets. Bleeds invites the scream back, but this time they’re condensed, almost like a synthesizer meshing the lyrics. Mostly, Bleeds is not as loud and furious as RSG. A major exclusion is what may be Wednesday’s first all-out punk song, “Wasp.” Wednesday albums consistently vary in pace, but never like they do on “Wasp.” Slotted between two of the album’s headier songs, “Pick Up That Knife” and “Bitter Everyday,” “Wasp” moves sonically into a whole new direction. A space where Karly’s inspiration is Turnstile’s early material. 

When Karly isn’t getting into her teenage roots, she’s writing the song of the summer, “Elderberry Wine.” As the lead single, and a reminder that she has one of the most unique song-crafting styles today, “Elderberry Wine” is an earworm you’re excited to keep spinning. Karly describes it as, “A love song about creating just the right environment for fulfillment.” Maybe she’s referring to touring in the same band as her previous partner (MJ). Or perhaps she’s referring to Haw Creek, the dingy but lovable NC town, where the Wednesday members spent many years living together. Regardless of her end goal, you can’t get sick of “Elderberry Wine.”

Most of Bleeds teters between “Wasp” and “Elderberry Wine,” landing in a space for Karly to write in her most unrestrained form yet. A track like “Townies” is likely to become a definite fan favorite. “Wound Up Here (By Holdin’ On)” is already a highlight of the live show, and another example of why a Wednesday song is so unique to its members. Every song the band produces rides the same, nostalgic, dimly lit, soothing stream. Without the band–Xandy Chelmis (lap steel, pedal steel), Alan Miller (drums), Ethan Baechtold (bass, piano), and Lenderman (guitar)–Karly’s words would lose their Country rock punch.

Bleeds is what the whole Alt Country wave needs—a no-skip, cohesive package of songs that aren’t defined by a label. Karly Hartzman and her crew have delivered something many would believe too far-fetched to release. It’s dark, it’s funny, it’s clever, it’s everything a Wednesday song is and always has been. If RSG was Karly’s senior creative writing thesis, Bleeds is her coming back decades later to teach the course; instead, it only took her two years to advance her craft.

Bleeds is available now on streaming via Dead Oceans. Buy a physical copy here, and find tickets to Wednesday’s tour here.