On Friday, March 8, American rock band Bleachers released Bleachers, their self-titled fourth studio album. A New Jersey band founded in 2013, Bleachers flaunts the talents of six musicians led by three-time Grammy award-winning musician and producer Jack Antonoff. Antonoff works alongside singer Mikey Freedom Hart, drummer Sean Hutchinson, multi-instrumentalist Mike Riddleberger, and saxophonists Evan Smith and Zem Audu.
The band members have learned to work together seamlessly, melding their individual talents through skillful songwriting, vocals, and instrumentals, having continually created music that holds lots of talent. However, Bleachers lacks versatility, falling short of their band’s past potential and unable to create a rich and full-circle album. Filled with repetitive melodies and lackluster instrumentals, the album becomes monotonous by the time the last track plays.
Bleachers is the band’s most somber album yet, grounded in the telltale genres of indie pop and alternative rock. Co-produced by Antonoff himself, the album houses 14 tracks that croon solemn melodies complimented by light lyrics with a newly discovered angsty undertone. However, the band’s fantastic instrumentals steal the spotlight.
Antonoff, who received the 2024 Grammy Award for Producer of the Year, leads the six musicians throughout the album, driving them in similar directions as their previous work while also tapping into some new discoveries. However, the band does not reach far enough into new music styles to create a successful journey.
Bleachers stray away from the previous feel of their 2021 album, Take the Sadness Out of Saturday Night, with a newfound sorrowful and nostalgic tone. While sentimental songs can add depth to an album, brooding, angsty lyrics drive almost every track on Bleachers, leaving behind the optimistic feel fans most enjoyed about Bleachers music. Bleachers fully embraces Antonoff’s throwback attitude to his childhood spent in New Jersey, but the album lacks enough variety in tone to hold the attention of listeners.
All the album’s songs, including the four previously released singles, share a similar tone. The band put out “Modern Girl” Sept. 20, “Alma Mater” Nov. 15, “Tiny Moves” Jan. 17, and lastly, “Me Before You” Feb. 22, as the singles off the album. The first single “Modern Girl,” successfully built excitement around the album. If the band stuck with this song’s somewhat uplifting tone and impressive instrumentals, the rest of the album would have received more of a welcome from fans.
The Bleachers lead singles, “Modern Girl” and “Tiny Moves,” prove the most reminiscent of Bleachers’ previous work, flaunting upbeat melodies that push even the wallflowers to sing along. “Modern Girl” captured attention with its sentimental tone that Antonoff proudly held close to his heart throughout the album. “I guess I’m New Jersey’s finest New Yorker,” Antonoff claims in the song’s second verse, conveying how even after moving away from New Jersey, he still feels like he belongs to his hometown.
“Tiny Moves” similarly mirrors a coming-of-age story in its lyrics. “The tiniest moves you make, Watching’ the whole world shake, Watching’ my whole world change,” Antonoff sings in the song’s repetitive yet catchy chorus. Both “Modern Girl” and “Tiny Moves” establish the album as an ode to Antonoff’s childhood spent in the Garden State.
Some of the album’s songs present a variety that it otherwise would have lacked, such as the 11th track, “Call Me After Midnight,” which offers a refreshing shift in tone. The song is lyrically charming, and hones in on instrumentals that build and continuously peak throughout the song. The band members seamlessly collaborate, highlighting each musician’s talent to create an upbeat song that connects back to the band’s usual John Hughes ’80s-inspired feel.
Although the album’s tracks coexist effortlessly together, it lacks any hard-hitting songs that branch out from its core: nostalgic angst for the band’s New Jersey childhood roots. Throughout the first few tracks, the album builds up to a climax that just never comes. Although Bleachers houses a repetitive tone that lacks momentum, fans still hope the band will create a clearer, more established voice with diversity in tone in their next musical creation. Bleachers’ newest album, Bleachers, earns two and a half out of five feathers.
