Biography
Led by Jennifer and Jessie Clavin, Bleached fuses the scrappy punk inherited from their prior group Mika Miko with catchier compositions and a smoother overall texture. Their initial releases and the 2013 debut album Ride Your Heart blended jagged textures and candid personal admissions with tuneful hooks, while subsequent efforts such as the 2019 album Don't You Think You've Had Enough? brought added weight and gloss without sacrificing emotional directness.
Following the 2009 breakup of Mika Miko, Jennifer Clavin paused live performances yet kept collaborating on material with Jessie. She relocated to New York to study fashion design and served as Cold Cave’s keyboardist and backing vocalist during 2010 and 2011. Jessie stayed in the family’s Los Angeles base, performing with Cold Showers. Once Jennifer came back to L.A., the sisters focused seriously on Bleached, touring alongside kindred acts like Hunx & His Punx and releasing their debut single “Francis” through Ooga Booga Records in June 2011. The following month brought the “Carter” single, which included the song “Think of You,” via Art Fag. By December’s limited-edition single “Searching Through the Past” on Suicide Squeeze, the band had already shifted toward a clearer, more organized approach. That refined direction carried through their first full-length, Ride Your Heart, issued by Dead Oceans in 2013, and continued on the 2014 EP For the Feel.
To create their second album, Welcome the Worms, the Clavins and bassist Micayla Grace withdrew to a cottage in Joshua Tree, California, where they composed tracks addressing personal losses and life transitions. Produced by Joe Chiccarelli and Carlos de la Garza, the record appeared in 2016. Bleached followed in 2017 with the EP Can You Deal, shaped in part by the gendered inquiries they faced while promoting Welcome the Worms. Jennifer Clavin also assembled a ’zine of the same name collecting reflections on sexism from artists including Liz Phair, EMA, Lizzo, and Patty Schemel, with proceeds directed to Planned Parenthood. For the next album, the sisters developed songs in Los Angeles and Nashville that chronicled their path to sobriety. Working with producer Shane Stoneback, Jessie handled most instrumentation while Jennifer delivered the vocals; the resulting Don’t You Think You’ve Had Enough? was released in July 2019.
Following the 2009 breakup of Mika Miko, Jennifer Clavin paused live performances yet kept collaborating on material with Jessie. She relocated to New York to study fashion design and served as Cold Cave’s keyboardist and backing vocalist during 2010 and 2011. Jessie stayed in the family’s Los Angeles base, performing with Cold Showers. Once Jennifer came back to L.A., the sisters focused seriously on Bleached, touring alongside kindred acts like Hunx & His Punx and releasing their debut single “Francis” through Ooga Booga Records in June 2011. The following month brought the “Carter” single, which included the song “Think of You,” via Art Fag. By December’s limited-edition single “Searching Through the Past” on Suicide Squeeze, the band had already shifted toward a clearer, more organized approach. That refined direction carried through their first full-length, Ride Your Heart, issued by Dead Oceans in 2013, and continued on the 2014 EP For the Feel.
To create their second album, Welcome the Worms, the Clavins and bassist Micayla Grace withdrew to a cottage in Joshua Tree, California, where they composed tracks addressing personal losses and life transitions. Produced by Joe Chiccarelli and Carlos de la Garza, the record appeared in 2016. Bleached followed in 2017 with the EP Can You Deal, shaped in part by the gendered inquiries they faced while promoting Welcome the Worms. Jennifer Clavin also assembled a ’zine of the same name collecting reflections on sexism from artists including Liz Phair, EMA, Lizzo, and Patty Schemel, with proceeds directed to Planned Parenthood. For the next album, the sisters developed songs in Los Angeles and Nashville that chronicled their path to sobriety. Working with producer Shane Stoneback, Jessie handled most instrumentation while Jennifer delivered the vocals; the resulting Don’t You Think You’ve Had Enough? was released in July 2019.
Albums
Singles
