Today’s styling of punk music is harder to find than before. This can be attributed to the watered down version of pop punk that nearly destroyed the genre and turned punk from a lifestyle and attitude into just another cash cow. While bands we won’t mention did their best to kill it, there have been signs of life from true punk rockers in the past few years, especially in Southern California where garage punk mixed with surf pop has given the genre new life. This movement has been enhanced by Orange County record store/label Burger Records, which has provided an outlet for many of bands. One such band to emerge is Los Angeles’ Bleached.

Jennifer and Jessie Clavin weren’t always hard rockin’ punk rockers. They were raised in the un-punk San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles, but started playing music and attending punk shows. They snuck into punk shows in nearby Hollywood and their they teenaged years saw them become staples at Downtown L.A.’s The Smell, another place that counts No Age and FIDLAR as alumni.

Citing influences ranging from Gun Club to Fleetwood Mac and the Rolling Stones to Johnny Thunders, the Clavins originally got their start playing in punk band Mika Miko. The all-female quartet were together for six years and were staples of the Downtown scene that has spawned more than a few bands that we’ve written about here. Despite opening for bands like No Age and the Black Lips, in 2009, Mika Miko split. Though they always intended to work together the sisters ended up joining other bands, with Jennifer heading to New York and Jessie staying in Los Angeles.  When Jennifer returned west, the sisters wrote and recorded a song that they didn’t feel any pressure to release to a mass audience. But a funny thing happened: that song, the raw and melodic “Next Stop” earned them plaudits from critics and proved that the girls were onto something.

After releasing another single, Bleached signed with Dead Oceans and the project became their full time band. Their debut album, Ride Your Heart, came out in April and since then the girls have been touring extensively, and are currently in Europe. But don’t fret; they’ll be back Stateside beginning this weekend with a show at the Jubilee Music Festival in Los Angeles before heading to Brooklyn for a few shows.

With a sound that blends raw punk with salacious harmonies, Bleached have crafted a sound more mature than their time together. But then again, when you’ve been playing music as long as they have together, it should come as no surprise that they’re this solid. Just ask fans of Mika Miko.