“This record is the first time I went in feeling like a musician,” Wednesday’s Karly Hartzman tells Apple Music of Rat Saw God, her North Carolina rock outfit’s fifth LP. “I've had the idea of the sound I wanted since I started playing six years ago, but it took me until Twin Plagues to kind of arrive there. I think I finally did what I've imagined for a long time with Rat Saw God.” What Hartzman has been chasing until now is a braiding together of what she loves most about shoegaze (the total volume, the sheets of guitar) and country music (the storytelling, the vocals close and clear). Inspired by the narrative-rich rock of Drive-By Truckers as well as Lynda Barry’s 2000 graphic novel Cruddy, it’s an album that leans into observational detail and family history, without burying a single word or placing it just out of reach in the mix. “I wouldn't want people to not be able to tell what I'm saying,” she says. “Even though the albums have a clear tone, it's mostly just life that has the tone and I'm putting it into the songs. It's kind of doing it by itself.” ~ Apple Music User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.