Blood Red Shoes - Box of Secrets (V2)
4/5
By: Jim Carroll
As odd as it may sound, I have often felt sorry for Blood Red Shoes. Yes, seemingly at first glance the Brighton duo would appear to have it all. First there is their uncanny knack for danceable, driving indie pop. You then throw in their fresh faced good looks and seemingly effortless cool, and all in all you would appear to have the makings of the complete package. Yet I have always felt a certain sympathy for them. For it is hard to think of any other band who have been short changed quite so shockingly by the corps of lazy hacks who flounce about in the British alternative music press. Yet after three years and a succession of cracking singles Blood Red Shoes still have to contend with hackneyed analogies. One boy? One Girl? No bass? Oh well, they must be like the White Stripes then?
No! Hopefully Box of Secrets will finally put this sort of lazy comparison to bed. It's more of the same stomping two step disco beats over grungey guitars, complete with a punk rock edge. Forget the White Stripes, it is more like PJ Harvey meets The Rapture. Seasoned fans of BRS will already be familiar with re-recorded versions of the singles 'ADHD', 'You Bring Me Down' and 'It's Getting Boring By The Sea'. Whilst these songs have been administered a professional gloss by the Arctic Monkeys knob twiddler Mike Crossey (see the inclusion of woodblocks and handclaps for evidence); they still manage to retain the intensity of their early recordings and live shows. In the most part it is pounding and droning guitars and drums, all juxtaposed with Laura Mary Carter and Steven Ansell's delicious call and response melodies.
Lyrically, Box of Secrets is fraught and taut; yet never overly angst ridden. Each song is pleaded by paranoiacs - all frazzled nerves and oozing neurasthenia. As Laura Mary Carter pleads on 'You Bring Me Down' that 'nothing can stop this creeping fear', you begin to empathise with her sensations of inadequacy. Yet while ineptitude and resignation are recurring themes throughout, Box of Secrets never feels maudlin or self indulgent. In fact these themes have rarely sounded so fun.
Dissenters will argue that Box of Secrets is one paced - and it is. But Blood Red Shoes aren't claiming to be Radiohead. They are a band who know what they are good at, and are very good at delivering it. In fact, the one attempt to slow down proceedings, album closer 'Hope You Are Holding Up' with Harriet from Los Campesinos on violin duties is the one time Box of Secrets feels a bit contrived. It is not what Blood Red Shoes are about, and feels a bit anomalous. Their mandate is to bludgeon with visceral, minimalist indie rock that you can also get your best dancing shoes on to. And this is what they do exceptionally well.
Oh, and they are not like the White Stripes.
Artists in this article: Blood Red Shoes
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