The opening track ‘Welcome Home’ sums up this album from the off. This ferocious, ‘throw-yourself-around’ instrumental number, that lasts shy of two minutes, is direct and unapologetic about playing to strengthens as it delivers the sound that’s synonymous with this Brighton-based duo.
Blood Red Shoes’ self-titled fourth album doesn’t loose a shred of its intensity along the way either. You’re rattled through these tracks at a break-neck pace – seriously, they come at you with these burly psych-riffs and palpitating drum beats hammer and tongs. Carter, whose haunting vocals have this ability to cut clean across the mash of distorted guitars, adds a subtle darkness to the sound. You get the feeling that the best possible way to experience their sound is at a gig - there’s something about the tangle of chords and overwhelming urgency in each track that goes hand in hand with battling amongst a throng of sweaty individuals.
As you’d expect, there are all the familiar Blood Red Shoes elements that you know and love, but they get clever with it, and it gets really special when Steven Ansell and Laura-Mary Carter start to bounce off one another.
These songs fit together and do well to capture their punk ethos. There’s a logical narrative, and swift nods of acknowledgement to earlier work. Could they push themselves out of their comfort zone, take a few risks? Perhaps, but for a band with such a distinct sound that seems superfluous. They know who they are, they’ve found their sound, and they’re clearly having fun with it.
Words: Frances McKenna
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