ALBUM: Blood Red Shoes - Box Of Secrets

Having seen (and reviewed them in the previous post) them last week, I was very eager to get the album, as 40 minutes of Blood Red Shoes is about as most as the body can stand before it all starts sounding a bit more White Stripes and little less interesting.

Opening two tracks "It Doesn't Matter Much" and "You Bring Me Down" set the course out clear from the start - Blood Red Shoes don't do quiet. While they touch on melody, the focus is on rhytm, tempo and repitition. To say Blood Red Shoes are formulaic would be insulting, but unfortunately justified. Their Boy-Girl dynamic works much better than a lot of contemporaries. Both Laura-Mary and Steven are stars of the show, each bringing what the other needs.

They harmonise and back each other perfectly vocally, and Steven's drums are energetic, driving Laura-Mary's ceaseless attack of overdriven guitar noise. In a music climate where bands with two guitarists and a bass, the music can sound empty and lifeless (see: The View), BRS manage to more than compensate for the lack of two members and fill out the sound completely.

Fan (and personal) favourites "ADHD" and "It's Getting Boring By The Sea" get the re-recording treatment, at the expense of former single "Stitch Me Back", which is not featured. The production is generally superior to previous singles, with equal weighting given to both members, and Steven's frenetic drumming actually recorded properly

As I said before however, Blood Red Shoes do tend to get a little bit tiresome after 40 minutes or so, which is lucky as that is about the length of the album and its difficult to see where else they could really take their ideas, without drastically changing their sound. Don't get me wrong, it's pleasant, original up to a point and has worked for them for the last couple of years, but doesn't leave much space for new work. Even the songs that feature on this album are all cut from the same mould - so much so that changing the order of the album would be pretty futile, the songs all sound the same anyway.

It's almost unfortunate, and I'm being overly picky, as this album, as a stand-alone piece of work, is actually a fantastic listen. Its the result of years of hard touring and work for this band, and is not just a collection of previous singles and releases that some bands would be tempted to release. My only fears are whether or not Blood Red Shoes can actually go the distance.

7.5/10

Box Of Secrets is out now on V2 in the UK.