Concrete Blonde - Bloodletting

Gothic romance rarely crossed over to rock radio, but in 1990 Concrete Blonde made it happen. Bloodletting, the Los Angeles trio's third album, took the darkness mainstream and became their commercial breakthrough in the process. Partly inspired by Anne Rice's vampire novels and steeped in New Orleans atmosphere, it wraps literate, brooding songwriting around Johnette Napolitano's extraordinary voice, a powerhouse instrument capable of menace and tenderness in the same breath.

The record opens in shadow with "Bloodletting (The Vampire Song)" and never fully steps into the light, but it is anything but one-note. "Joey," a heartbreaking portrait of loving an alcoholic, became the band's signature hit, spending four weeks atop the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart and climbing to number 19 on the Hot 100. Around it, the wry "Caroline" and the aching "Tomorrow, Wendy" show a band moving easily between bite and vulnerability, held together throughout by Napolitano's commanding presence.

More than thirty years on, Bloodletting remains the definitive Concrete Blonde statement and a touchstone for anyone drawn to moody, literate alternative rock. It is a record that took goth atmosphere and genuine songcraft and proved the two were never at odds, influencing a lineage of darkly romantic bands that followed.

This reissue LP comes via I.R.S. and Capitol, mastered at Capitol. A welcome return to vinyl for a cult classic, and an essential pickup for fans of the shadowy end of alt-rock.