Blood Red Shoes – Water
(V2 Records)
For those who listen to – Alison Mosshart/The Kills, Babes in Toyland, Queens of the Stone Age
Their name alone had me hooked from the first glance – Blood Red Shoes. I sensed before I hit play on my laptop to listen to Box of Secrets that I was in for some elegant destruction. That was almost 4 years ago and I’ve been under this Brighton 2 piece’s spell ever since. Annoyingly enough they were just in town for 2 shows in September, which I had the brilliant luck of finding out about 2 days after their last NYC date. Fortunately, on January 21st they released a limited edition 3 song EP, Water, which has soften the blow of missing their concerts.
In true Blood Red Shoes fashion, Water is all about the guitar. Singer/guitarist Laura-May Carter’s tasty Big Muff distorted assaults (not only the best effects pedal, but the best named pedal ever) dominate the song space with texture and aggression. Yet her placement and layering display a well thought out plan of attack showcasing each song’s dynamic movements. Then there’s her singing. Carter’s mesmerizing vocal style exudes such prowess in ‘Red River’ as she taunts, “we’re both to blame”.
‘Black Distractions’ weaves its way through a devilishly fuzzy Black Sabbath inspired riff while drummer Steven Ansell and Carter chant in rounds to “summon the devil inside of you”. This song produced my favorite guitar lick on the EP. Carter bends and wrestles each note as if she is trying to free her instrument from the demon that has it possessed.
‘Idle Hands’ is the monster that truly exposes Ansell’s propulsive drumming. Perhaps this song was the most fun for the band to make as well with it’s My Bloody Valentine-esque intro and eventual build into a whirring noise fest. Consider your palate cleansed for the next course – a new full length Blood Red Shoes album. I’ll be here waiting for the next taste.
Laura Sisul can be reached at misssisul@gmail.com.