Today, February 13th, Bully (aka Alicia Bognanno) has released a reworked version of her stand-out single, “Atom Bomb - Electric Version.” Initially released a year ago in Feb. 2024, this newly retooled single was a fan favorite at her live performances throughout last year.

Bognanno shares, “I think that if a song is written well enough at its core, it should be able to translate a similar emotion regardless of its form. I wanted to test that theory with Atom Bomb. Releasing a solo piano song for the first time and playing it live 10 years into my career to a room full of strangers falling silent without request resurrects a sense of boundlessness in me that reinstates what I try to tell myself anytime I find myself fearful of stepping outside of the box people expect to remain in, and that is - if I really want to grow I should stop fearing what I don’t know. I still have nights where my mind goes blank from performance anxiety, and I have to pause mid-song to regain my composure, but even when I feel like I couldn’t have fallen apart more on stage, I still can recognize that I survived and that it’s okay. I played and mixed all of this version of Atom Bomb in my room except for drums which were recorded and played by JT Daly. Coming from an analog background, it feels good to release something that I know isn’t autotuned or on a grid; it’s genuine and imperfect in a way that I feel suits the song best. Whether or not it translates well is subjective, but regardless, I was fulfilled by the process and experimentation of it all.”
 
Spending most of last year on the road touring to support her 2023 release, Lucky For You, Bully opened SOLD-OUT shows for Suki Waterhouse and Grouplove. She was also featured on the standalone Blondshell single “Docket.” She’s currently hard at work writing her new album. Bully has a headline show confirmed at Friday Cheers in Richmond, VA, on May 9th.

Today, February 29th, Bully (aka Alicia Bognanno) has digitally released an intimate piano ballad entitled “Atom Bomb.”
 
Bognanno says, “The song was originally recorded with a drum machine and electric guitar; it was also quite a bit faster. When I played the demo for JT Daly (producer), he had the idea of moving it to the piano. I remember saying out loud, ‘Can you believe I’m trusting anybody like this?’ We both started laughing because starting off as someone who used to record, mix, and produce their own records to avoid the vulnerability that comes with working out creative ideas in the company of others, it was a huge step for me. That was our first real bonding moment, acknowledging that we were mutually up for trying new things and seeing each other’s ideas through before one of us shut it down.”
 
Bree Marie Fish directed the accompanying live video recorded and shot at MMK studios in Nashville, TN. Click HERE to watch.
 
This stand-alone track follows the release of Lucky For You, which garnered praise and notices from The New York Times, NPR Music, Rolling Stone, The FADER, Stereogum, Pitchfork, and more. Additionally, Bognanno recently contributed original music to the Apple TV show Buccaneers and was featured on Militarie Gun’s recent song “Never Fucked Up Twice.”
 
Bully is currently on a tour of North America, performing in a rare solo setting while supporting Grouplove. The tour began last night in Seattle and ends on March 30th at Terminal Five in New York City. Please find a full list of dates below.

 
Thu. Feb. 29 - Portland, OR - Crystal Ballroom #
Sat. Mar. 02 - Oakland, CA - Fox Theater #
Tue. Mar. 05 - San Diego, CA - The Observatory North Park  #
Wed. Mar. 06 - Anaheim, CA - House of Blues #
Fri. Mar. 08 - Los Angeles, CA - Wiltern #
Sat. Mar. 09 - Phoenix, AZ - The Van Buren  #
Mon. Mar. 11 - Salt Lake City, UT - The Van Buren #
Tue. Mar. 12 - Aspen, CO - Belly Up Aspen #
Wed. Mar. 13 - Denver, CO - Mission Ballroom #
Fri. Mar. 15 - Saint Paul, MN - Palace Theatre #
Sat. Mar. 16 - Chicago, IL - Riviera Theatre  #
Sun. Mar. 17 - Detroit, MI - Saint Andrew’s Hall  #
Tue. Mar. 19 - Columbus, OH - KEMBA Live! #
Wed. Mar. 20 - Cincinnati, OH - Bogart’s #
Fri. Mar. 22 - Pittsburgh, PA - Roxian Theatre#
Sat. Mar. 23 - Philadelphia, PA - Franklin Music Hall #
Mon. Mar. 25 - Richmond, VA - The National  #
Fri. Mar. 29 - Boston, MA - Roadrunner  #
SAT. Mar. 30 - New York City, NY - Terminal Five #
Thu. Nov. 14 - London, UK - Electric Ballroom

#  w/ GROUPLOVE

 
What People are saying about Bully’s Lucky For You:
“The result is a confident, compelling record that reveals — and revels in — the softness behind the feedback and fuzz that continue to make Bully a force to be reckoned with (8/10).”  - EXCLAIM!

“Alicia Bognanno’s fourth album is an open-hearted, anthemic career-best (Album of the Week).” - PASTE

“…Lucky For You is Bully’s best album yet, immediate and undeniable and kind of awe-inspiring in its complex simplicity (Album of the Week).” STEREOGUM

“‘Days Move Slow,’ from Alicia Bognanno’s grungy indie-rock project Bully, is a song about being caught in the muck of grief — but it also has a propulsive, bouncy energy that promises eventual forward motion. “There’s flowers on your grave that grow,” Bognanno sings in her signature holler, battling her buzzing guitar. “Something’s gotta change, I know.” - NEW YORK TIMES

“‘Days Move Slow’ is a punchy but poignant tune, an energetic and honest exploration of grief that Bully’s Alicia Bognanno wrote after the death of her dog, Mezzi.” - ROLLING STONE

“‘Days Move Slow’ is pristine Bully – sparking pop, but also working with a seismic edge… Retaining the anthemic bite she’s become known for, the sessions adding aspects of shoegaze, punk, and late 90s British guitar pop.” - CLASH

“‘Lose You’ attempts to reckon with the idea that even a love that seems like it’ll last forever isn’t necessarily immortal. Taking cues from late ’80s and ’90s shoegaze pioneers, the track is driven by a steadily, thumping beat that backdrops Bognanno’s fuzzed-out guitars: “Either way I’m gonna lose you,” she and Allison lament in harmony, before a ripper of a guitar solo near the song’s end.”  - CONSEQUENCE

“The rasp in Alicia Bognanno’s voice makes everything she sings engaging and she uses the pain inherent in that croak to great effect on ‘Lose You’” - THE FADER

“With lashings of scuzz and slacker fire, it’s a guaranteed hit with Gen X and Z alike.” [“Lose You”] - GUITAR WORLD

“‘Lose You’ is a succinct grunge-pop tune woven with stark realizations.” - FLOOD

“Featuring fellow fuzz-rocker Sophie Allison, AKA Soccer Mommy, ‘Lose You’ is one of those tracks that is filled to the brim with pop hooks and crunchy guitar riffs. As Bully and Soccer Mommy trade harmonies, the banging backing track that supports them continuously ebbs and flows through different dynamics. The sound is always ecstatic, especially when a trippy guitar solo bubbles up from the ether.” - FAR OUT

“Her fourth album is perhaps her most candid yet, and it’s all the more triumphant for it.” - Upset

“Cherry-picked from the rich tapestry of alt-rock past… but all heart, specifically Alicia Bognanno’s torn, bleeding irresistible heart.” - Classic Rock

 “More layers and nuance than ever before… magnificently raw.” - Record Collector

Bully
“Atom Bomb”

On Friday, June 2nd, Bully (aka Alicia Bognanno), will release Lucky For You, her kaleidoscopic new full-length on CD/LP/CS/DSPs worldwide from Sub Pop. The 10-track album combines punk grit, crunchy shoegaze bliss, and an explosive Britpop bop, all mixed in with the classic anthems Bully is known for. 
 
Lucky For You was recorded in 2022 at MMK Studios and Alicia’s House in Nashville, with help from producer JT Daly and mastered by Joe LaPorta at Sterling Sound.
 
This pulsating lead banger, “Days Move Slow,” was written after the passing of her beloved dog and best friend, Mezzi. Bognanno offers this, “as someone who has spent the majority of my life feeling agonizingly misunderstood, there is no greater gift than experiencing true unconditional love and acceptance. I waited my whole life for the bond and irreplaceable companionship I had with Mezzi. She was my best friend and my only constant through some of the most pivotal moments and phases of my life. I was a stranger to the level of love I now know exists because of Mezzi. Love you forever; I’m lucky for you.” 
 
The “Days Move Slow” official video was directed by Alex Ross Perry, who shares about this collaboration, “This is my third time collaborating with Alicia, but my first time collaborating with Bully. Having written the original songs for my film Her Smell and performed at the Pavement Museum Tribute Concert “scene” for my forthcoming film on them, I can’t believe I finally got to make a Bully video. Right away, it seemed striking to make a piece as stark and measured as possible, not to make a video that replicates the song’s sonic energy but to visualize the emotional weight and feelings of loss and grief depicted in the lyrics. Alicia doesn’t seem to have been filmed in 16mm black and white before, so it was a no-brainer to give that a try.” You can watch this brilliant new video HERE. 

Bully is extending her North American tour dates for 2023 in support of Lucky For You with new headlining shows. Dates kick-off June 4th in Charlottesville, VA, with headline stops at NYC’s Racket, Chicago’s Thalia Hall, and a hometown show at Nashville’s Brooklyn Bowl. Tickets for these shows are on sale on Friday, March 24th, at 10:00 AM (local).
 
These new shows will follow Bully’s previously announced headlining UK/EU tour (May 20th-28th) and her 13-date main support for the Pixies and Franz Ferdinand (June 8th-25th). See below for a current list of Bully live shows.
 

 
Lucky For You’s announcement was preceded by the release of the album track “Lose You,” Bully’s, which features guest vocal harmonies from Sophia Allison, aka Soccer Mommy. The song garnered support from Pitchfork, NME, DIY, The Fader, The Line of Best Fit, Under the Radar, and RollingStone. Stereogum says of the track, “It meets in the midpoint between the two bands’ aesthetics, trading out Bully’s usual rapid-speed intensity for an ambling ’90s alt-rock vibes while holding onto the raw power. It might be the most purely catchy Bully song to date.” 
 
More about Bully:
Lucky For You is Bully’s most close-to-the-bone album yet. It’s an album that’s searing and unmistakably marked by its creator’s experiences, while still retaining the massive sound that Alicia Bognanno has become known for over the last decade. Her fourth album draws from personal pain and the universal struggle that is existing, learning, and moving on—and it’s all soundtracked by Bognanno’s rock-solid melodic sensibilities and a widescreen sound that’s impossible to pin down when it comes to the textures explored. These ten songs are simply the most irresistible Bognanno’s put to tape yet, making Lucky For You her greatest triumph to date in a career already packed with them.
 
Work on Lucky For You began last year when Bognanno brought some in-progress demos to producer J.T. Daly in his Nashville studio to see if they could strike creative kismet. “Authenticity is always on my mind, without even knowing it,” she explains while discussing their recording process together. “If I’m doing something that doesn’t feel natural or right, I’m quick to shut it down. So it was great to work with J.T. because I could tell he was a genuine fan who wanted to emphasize what he thinks is good about my writing instead of changing it. I could tell how much he cared about the project, and it meant a lot to me.” The album came together over the course of seven months, the longest gestation process for a Bully record to date: “I was freaking out about it at first because taking my time was so new for me. But a few months in, I realized how crucial that time ended up being. I got songs out of it that I wouldn’t have had otherwise.”
 
“With every record, I feel more and more secure in terms of doing what I want,” Bognanno continues. “For this one, I wanted to be as creative as possible with these songs.” She got her wish: A kaleidoscopic rock record spanning punk’s grit, the crunchy bliss of shoegaze, explosive Britpop, and the type of classic anthems Bully has been known for, Lucky For You’s thematic focus also zooms in on grief and loss. The record is largely inspired by Bognanno’s dog Mezzi passing away, at a time when her life already felt as if in metamorphosis.
 
“Mezzi was my best friend,” she explains. “She made me feel safe and empowered, she showed me that I was worth loving and never judged me or viewed me as a let down. I always felt accepted, understood and so much less alone. Mezzi was living, breathing proof that I was worthy of being loved.” And the oceanic first single “Days Move Slow” was written shortly after Mezzi’s passing, reflecting the persistence of Bognanno’s incisive wit even while facing adversity. “There was nothing else I could do except sit down and write.”
 
“Hard to Love” stomps and lurches with awesome abandon, resembling one of the most sonically left-field tunes Bognanno’s put to tape as Bully; and then there’s the passionate opening track “All I Do,” which kicks in the door Bully-style with huge riffs atop her lyrical reflections on three years of sobriety. “I’ve been living in this house for seven years,” she says while discussing her current Nashville abode. “Once I stopped drinking, I felt like I was still haunted by mistakes and things that had happened when I was drinking, and it’s still taking me a long time to forget about that while existing in this house. How do I shed the skin from a path I’ve moved on from?”
 
In that vein, Lucky For You is a document of perseverance in the face of the big and the small stuff. “I’m so overly emotional and sensitive, it’s a blessing and a curse,” she says with a laugh, but there’s no downside to her expressions of vulnerability on this record; it’s the latest bit of evidence that nothing can hold Bognanno back.

Bully
Lucky For You
 
Tracklisting:
1. All I Do
2. Days Move Slow
3. A Wonderful Life
4. Hard to Love
5. Change Your Mind
6. How Will I Know
7. A Love Profound
8. Lose You
9. Ms. America
10. All This Noise