By: Kayleigh Drake

FFO: Hum, Failure, early to mid 90s-era Smashing Pumpkins

So, I know we’re only four months into the year, but I can already tell that the new Bedridden LP, “Moths Strapped to Eachother’s Backs,” is going on my Albums of the Year list. 

This will be the first full-length album the Brooklyn-based band has released, and only their third release overall. (The first being a six-song demo from 2022 and the second being 2023’s “Amateur Heartthrob” EP.) Bedridden is one of those bands that doesn’t put a ton of info out into the world about themselves. Case in point: Both their Spotify and Bandcamp bios simply say, “Autograph the back of my lunchbox.” They have 37 posts on their Instagram, the majority of which are flyers and show announcements. It’s as if to say, “Just let our music speak for itself.” And that it does.

First things first: If you’re even remotely a fan of the band Hum (and/or the Smashing Pumpkins, and/or Failure), you are going to love this record. (And this band in general, for that matter.) Bedridden, to me, is like the Hum of this generation, and it wears its influences well. From the fuzzed-out, overdriven guitars to the drop D tuning to the somewhat deadpan vocal delivery to the unmistakably 90s-inspired song structures, this record is very, very Hummy. Which is a very, very good thing. Speaking of Hummy — and a word that rhymes with it — the opening track, “Gummy,” sounds like it’d fit right in on “Electra 2000.” Now, there’s something to be said about a record that begins with a slow-burn intro. Like, say, “Iron Clad Lou” from the aforementioned Hum record. But at the same time, I’m a sucker for an album that brings us to the “meat” of it all right from the get-go, and that’s exactly what we get with “Gummy.” Literally like an Iron Clad Lou in reverse, “Gummy” opens with a brief thrum of feedback from what I assume to be a Fender stack before launching into four and a half minutes of drop-D deliciousness that closes out on a stripped down, noodle-y note. The perfect way to introduce us to the record, if you ask me. Next up is “Etch,” another standout track which happens to be the first single released from the album. (It dropped back in February, if Spotify is to be believed.) It starts out with a simple-yet-enticing G-chord strum that switches into a gloriously grungy bop four bars in. “Chainsaw,” another single, comes right after, and then we get to “Heaven’s Leg,” which incorporates some Billy Corgan-esque riffage throughout. “Philadelphia Get Me Through,” the third and final single from the album, is one of the faster, heavier tracks on the record, and its 5/4 time signature brings some math into the mix. “Mainstage” and “Snare” continue the heavy-and-fast pace, with the latter being another one of my faves that, in my opinion, could have been a single as well. And then we get to my absolute favorite song on the whole record — “Uno.” (Yes, like the card game, and yes, like the number “one” en español.) It starts with a noodling, tremolo-pedal-laden intro that switches to a catchy, slightly second wave emo-tinged banger that includes the line, “You can see my molars when I smile wide” in the chorus. (One of my favorite parts of the song, honestly.) It’s perfection from start to finish, and I’m quite sure I listened to this song at least 10 times in a row when I first got my hands on it. Penultimate track “Bonehead” is a heavy, downtempo song that immediately brings to mind Failure’s 1996 album “Fantastic Planet” (again, a good thing!). And finally, the album closes out with “Ring Size,” an almost waltz-y track that throws in one final hint of Siamese Dream-era Smashing Pumpkins — in fact, the word “Siamese twins” pops in about halfway through the song and kinda made me do an aural double-take at first. (“Wait, did I suddenly switch to Geek U.S.A.?” — me to myself at the 1:45 mark.)

Overall, this album slaps from front to back, and while some songs may have gripped me more than others, there’s not a single bad song among them. For me, this is a zero-skip record that blends some of my favorite musical influences into a 10-track masterpiece. It’s loud, but not too loud. It’s heavy, but not too heavy. It’s spacey and fuzzy but not necessarily shoegaze-y. I wouldn’t call this a particularly groundbreaking record — but I WOULD call it one of the best ones I’ve heard all year.