Tuesday 8 January 2013

Blood Red Shoes - Water EP



Not content with resting on their laurels, 9 months after releasing their third record In Time To Voices, Blood Red Shoes are back with an EP that's got more bite than we've known from them in a while. The Water EP takes the rock edge of the duo that was sadly absent on much of In Time To Voices and puts it through the grinder across three huge tracks.

Opening with Red River, the tenacity of the singles collection of the first two records is back. There's a dirty sounding lower end to Laura Mary's guitar that never goes away but that's backed up by a killer-hook and arena sized pulse that even the likes of the Kills have struggled with from time to time. It's truly a return to the powerful form that many considered to be lacking on their most recent effort.

On Black Distractions, drummer Steve Ansell takes the lead as Queens of the Stone age appear to be being channelled through the Brightonians. From the refrain's "when you close your eyes I'll be there to summon the devil inside of you" through to the intricate cymbal crashes and grungey bass line, Ansell is every bit Homme's understudy for 2:38minutes.

As you reach the third and last track on the Water EP, you can't help but wonder why it's over. Whilst Idle Hands is a fitting closer track, oozing over with the kind of fuzz that you'd expect a band of such a high live caliber to leave resonating through any venue they're allowed into; you want more of the same. Whilst In Time... had its moments in Cold and Je Me Perds, it never lifted off in the same way as you got with Box Of Secrets back in 2007 and for that you wondered if BRS' steady growth had capped itself. In the Water EP however, you're reminded of what a tour de force the power duo can be, even if in far too short a burst.

7

Braden Fletcher


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