hard

1. FUSE
2. CAN
3. DEAD EYES
4. HIT ON ME
5. BABY TOES
6. FRAGMENT

released 1993

This was the first of two mini lp's that were Bleach's last releases. It's the same band, the same
producer, yet somehow this doesn't have the impact of earlier stuff. Fuse has the lyrics and the
tune, but is ruined a bit by a kind of hillbilly beat more suited to an early Throwing Muses
record. Can is a little closer to the mark, but still doesn't quite hit. Dead Eyes is verging on the
jangly, it just doesn't sound Bleach at all. Then, when it seems it can't get any worse, out pops
a classic in Hit On Me. NIce intro, usual soft/hard Salli vocals, builds to an angry climax, easily
the standout track. Sadly, it's downhill after that, Baby Toes seems utterly frivolous (unless there's
a hidden meaning to " I got ten baby toes I can wiggle, wiggle, wiggle " that I'm missing) and
Fragment is just an utterly unecessary, largely instrumental jam, only not that good. Certainly
the least satisfying of Bleach's releases, made all the more maddening by having such a great
track in the middle to show you what they can do when they try.

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