Bully, Lightning Bug [outside]

Anyone can play guitar, but Alicia Bognanno keeps the basics interesting. The Nashville artist stays close to the tried-and-true sounds of Nineties alt-rock, but Bully stands out from a sea of grunge torchbearers with syrupy hooks and a Tommy Pickles roar. 2015’s Feels Like went heavy on this breakneck sweetness, and 2017’s Losing slowed in an equally arresting depression. Last year’s Sugaregg, however, offered a triumphant return to the light and pummels with an even greater strength, a firecracker streak of pummeling drums and ringing feedback. On tour with lush New York indie rockers Lightning Bug, the zeitgeists of decades past are jolted back to life. —2782307