Slick, bursting with energy and style, gritty. All terms that would effectively summarise what The Blind Hearts bring to the table.
No mucking about with this one then; no hyperbole, just the core fact. Go and listen to this band. Seriously. As it stands, they don’t have a lot of music out there to get into, just a handful of tracks on their Facebook page, so it won’t take long.
But what is there will leave you literally begging for more.
It’s hard to nail down just why I’m really digging these guys at the minute. A five piece of self described ‘hillbillies’ from London (can someone explain to me how that works?!), The Blind Hearts are my favourite type of band; the ones that are particularly tricky to pigeon hole in terms of style.
It’s clear to hear a strong indie influence mixed and fused to blues and heavy hints of country style, with some jazz thrown in for good measure, lightly seasoned with the pure energy of punk. The vocals particularly lead me to my best approximation of their sound being like Joe Bonamassa/Black Country Communion meets David Gray. But there’s something else in the mix, I can’t quite put my finger on. Theoretically, these ingredients when mixed together probably shouldn’t work as well as they do here, so I’m pretty sure there’s some kind of voodoo going down right here.
(Oh Lord & I) Keep On Losing pulls a pretty mean bait and switch on you within the first 10 seconds. Especially if it’s your first taste of the band. What starts as soulful jazz suddenly explodes into something completely different; an infectiously foot-tapping indie rock/country and western number. So it’s not the most elaborate and complex song in the world, personally, I’m having too much fun singing along to give a damn.
Ahem.
Standing in The Shackles offers a welcome to blues country, with that slide guitar tone offering plenty of attitude. In true Blind Hearts style though, this is infused with a healthy amount of energy, so the blues effect isn’t particularly lachrymose, but curiously upbeat due in no small part to the interesting and constantly evolving work on the drums. Much like the previous track, everything feels like its in balance. Even when it comes to the breakdown section, both guitars are throwing down solos, but it never sounds like a competition; each part working well with the other and creating a nice dialogue.
Crying Shame seems built for that lachrymose tag, but even with the same blues slide effect on the guitar, and the lyrical content, it is only marginally more mellow than the other tracks. Mellow might be the wrong word, laid back may be a better description, because even here, the driving momentum of the drums don’t allow any moping or wallowing in emotion. Some may point to that as a detriment, that the song might lack the emotional range, but I think it’s nice to have an inwardly reflective song that still has a bit of drive to it. And I just want to point out the harmony in the vocals here, they really work well.
I’m not going to lie to you, these guys are going places, and I just love the fact that throughout festival season last year there was a real buzz around what is essentially a country blues band... from London. In a musical landscape littered with X-Factor wannabes and dropouts, these guys aren’t just a breath of fresh air, they’re something else entirely, and are definitely worth your time.
Seriously, I’m not even going to make a lame joke about following your heart or not turning a blind eye on this one.
Oh wait...
Damn!
Review by Paul Barnes
Check them out!
No comments:
Post a Comment