Bleach the Sky – Wash Away
Boston, Massachusetts’ Bleach the Sky have been kicking around for the better part of a decade – an indie/alternative/shoegaze trio whose latest album, Wash Away, has been blaring through the buffaBLOG office speakers non-stop. Their newest musical endeavor is a foundational five-song EP, all of which have been meticulously crafted over the course of the last three years. Produced by Jay Maas, formerly of the raging band Defeater, and mastered by Kris Crummet, Wash Away blends the best parts of late ’90s alt rock, emo, and shoegaze into the band’s best (and best-representative) stuff yet. With influences ranging from Teenage Wrist, to Incubus, to Jimmy Eat World, Wash Away is truly the sum of all its various inspirations.
“GIN,” the album’s opening track, is concise, blistering shoegaze. Perfectly noisy and concentrated, Bleach the Sky uses fuzzy guitars, an ethereal bass, and huge drums to back fittingly-crushing lyrics like, “Who’s to say it’s no one’s fault / It’s a sickness after all.” The strongly-rooted vocals deliver solid hooks while never losing that ghostly appeal, while the constant uproar of their instrumentals grind you down into nothing.
Song two, “Tail Light,” starts off with quick and heavy guitar before blasting itself off into a meteor-filled space scene. The song features intense volume dynamics – as a drummer myself, the toms sounded particularly well-rounded and deep, adding to its atmospheric appeal. Likewise, song number four, “Disguise,” is an ode to the shoegaze gods, with interesting chorus-soaked guitars and vocals that leap out of the mix, coming up for air amidst the otherwise dense soundscape… In fact, the song’s constant instrumental morphing may even be a musical nod to its lyrical content about masquerading.
Wash Away‘s entirety is full of instrumental infernos, arena-worthy percussion, and differing yet very effective types of vocal deliveries. The EP is out March 12, 2026 – until then, you can listen to the single “GIN” here, and, in the meantime, familiarize yourself with the band’s catalog on Spotify, Apple Music, and Bandcamp.
Categorised in: Album Reviews
This post was written by Jake Sessanna