A lot of tiny black punk hearts were broken when legends of The Smell, Mika Miko called it quits in late 2009.
The various members (rooted firmly by the rambunctious (and brilliantly snotty) Clavin sisters) decided they wanted time to finish school and invest in other life endeavors. Like the end of a Looney Tunes cartoon where the iris closes and everything goes black, it seemed that those (with the tiny black punk hearts) would never hear from the Clavin sisters again.
However, thankfully, after one of the Clavin sisters returned to LA after touring as a member of Cold Cave for awhile, like a Looney Tunes cartoon, a NEW iris opened up and revealed a project called, Bleached.
They’ve released a number of 7″ singles on a number of labels (Art Fag & Ooga Booga,) but their most recent release, “Searching Through the Past” (on Suicide Squeeze) is not only my personal favorite of the lot, it is one of the catchiest things I’ve heard all year.
I defy you to listen to it and NOT toss your head wildly while singing along over and over for the last minute, “Come on back come on back baby come on back come on back…”
Here’s to hoping the iris doesn’t close for a good long while…