Omaha indie rock band Bad Self Portraits' new single, "All Bark No Bite," is as much a gut-wrenching examination of the generational cycle of maternal trauma as it is a confessional walk through self-love. This is one of those tracks that wants to be felt. The same is true for "All Bark No Bite," which, as the second single from their imminent debut album, "I Think I'm Going to Hell," gently informs us and summarizes some of that reflection. The song plunges into the heavy tones of shoegaze from its opening chord, combining slightly muffled guitars with a raw vocal delivery that does not conceal any trace of pain.
The unadorned raw emotion of frontwoman Ingrid Howell is inescapable. Rooted in a broken maternal relationship, she exposes the scabs of early instability and undue blame inflicted. The wisdom she has accrued from years of therapy and the strength of nurturing, as well as recent love, come out in every one of these lyrics, making them feel like part of a triumphant narrative arc. It's equal parts confession booth and cigarette break. The band, featuring Cole Kempcke on guitar, Connor Paintin on guitar and keys, and Jesse White on drums/vocals, thrives on this type of emotional immediacy. Since they first came together in 2017, they've earned a reputation for being the kind of live-oriented band that doesn't just put on a good show but also exacts something from an audience.
The instrumentation shuffles back and forth from superstardom to sentimentality, serving as an expansive palette for Howell to climb upward from lower registers into vibrato-ing glory. Set to light up wax via the Buy Before You Stream initiative on August 26, with a digital release scheduled for the following month on September 19, "All Bark No Bite" feels both anthemic and like a statement of purpose ahead of I "Think I'm Going to Hell." It is about survival. It was about shedding the generations-old inheritance of pain and earning back the right to decide one's own value. Bad self-portraits are not only revealing their story. In their words, they are helping people feel heard in theirs.
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