‘Bleachers’ by Bleachers reviews: Is the Jack Antonoff band’s 4th album ‘sublime,’ or does it lack ‘feeling’?

The Grammys love Jack Antonoff, but so far mostly for his work with other artists like Taylor Swift, Lana Del Rey and St. Vincent. He has won Producer of the Year, Non-Classical, for the last three years in a row. That ties him with David Foster, Quincy Jones and Pharrell Williams as the second most awarded individual in the category (Babyface leads with four career wins). But so far his own band Bleachers hasn’t gotten on the academy’s radar. Can their latest self-titled release, which dropped March 8, earn them recognition?

Well, so far the reviews are somewhat inconsistent for this, their fourth studio album. It has a MetaCritic score of 67 based on 14 reviews counted as of this writing: nine positive, four mixed and just one outright negative. Ben Tipple (DIY Magazine) raves about it, calling it “sublime … It’s built on a nostalgia to a time that never was, a perfectly balanced ‘80s-esque drum machine driving the beat across fourteen tracks that unapologetically cross generational boundaries.”

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Also praising the album is Lauren Hague (Clash Music), who calls these songs “an assured and polished side to the sound fans have got to know and love them for, amongst experimental extensions of their sonic-branding, which have naturally paid off.” Rhian Daly (NME) says, “It evolves into new territory, of course, but is equally deeply connected to past releases — a by-product of spending a decade honing their dynamic and sound.” And Jon Dolan (Rolling Stone) thinks “the fourth, self-titled Bleachers record doesn’t veer too far from their previous LPs,” but “‘Bleachers’ is a nice reminder of the sweet suburban kid at the heart of [Antonoff’s] Top 40 win.”

Roisin O’Connor (The Independent), however, thinks the album “flails” with too many influences that don’t cohere: “He’s trying to sound like Springsteen, Bowie, The National’s Matt Berninger, and Courtney Taylor-Taylor (of Dandy Warhols fame) at any given moment.” And Dakota West Foss (Sputnik Music) derides the album: it’s “rarely bad in a functional sense,” but it’s “without feeling” and marred by a “lack of personality.”

What do you think? Does Antonoff’s band rise to the heights of his superstar collaborators? Does he make the most of his musical influences? Or does he need to find his own unique voice?

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