Blood Red Shoes

in this instance, love is an understatement. i am in pure utter adoration for everything this duo are. their looks, their music, their attitude, and i do fancy the pants off both of them.

seen them live four times now, and each time, the bar has been raised. for example the last time i saw them was at northampton soundhaus on the 2nd of april, and throughout their set they kept dropping hints about how great the previous night had been because they had "half the audience" on stage with them. the venue management/security didn't seem happy with this encouragement for anarchy, but because the stage is about a foot off the ground their was nothing stopping us. just before their last song laura asked the sweaty crowd ahead of her if someone wanted to come and play cowbell with them. i gladly stepped up to the mark, and had the cowbell in my hands. about 30 seconds into the song however, a few mates of mine decided to leap up there with me, and within seconds so had the entire mosh pit. because thirty odd teenagers had scrambled onto a stage made for a band of four, the security team intervened and threw some of us back. steve and laura however seemed more invigorated than before and finished 'i wish i was someone better' with enough power to blow every amp in a ten mile radius.

their album is also on par with their staggering live performances. the opening track is a tune and a half, 'doesnt matter much' will have you gagging for more, and just begs to be released as a single with the catchiest chorus i have heard in a fair while. you wouldnt think the words "lowlowlowlowlowlow, yeah! yeah! yeah!" could make such a killer chorus, but they really do. another track well worth a mention other than those previously released (you bring me down, i wish i was someone better, etc) is new single, 'say something, say anything'. much a like the usual material but something about this one sticks out from the rest, a very catchy song, definatly worth a listen.

i'm dissapointed with their popularity, i cant work out what it is either, originally i assumed their wasn't enough musical depth, with only two instruments, and two people. some also claim they are "too rock for pop, and too pop for rock" which i can understand, but the recent success of all too similar band the tings tings dispels this thought. people have said to me that they sound like the ting tings, but its completely the other way round, and yet somehow blood red shoes have come out worse. i'm not saying the ting tings suck, far from it, but they have stolen blood red shoes thunder, and taken their place in popular culture.

www.bloodredshoes.co.uk

Doesn't Matter Much - Blood Red Shoes

Take The Weight - Blood Red Shoes

I Wish I Was Someone Better - Blood Red Shoes

Does It Offend You, Yeah?

having gone to see them at the summer festivals last year, you wouldn't expect that this band would be making the impact that they have made on the music scene over the past few months. i was a big fan quite early on when i heard via myspace that a three week old band who had taken their name from a sketch in the office, had received a staggeringly large record contract considering they had only played together a few times. i was however pleasantly surprised, and was hooked on 'lets make out' for a good month or two, but when i went to see them in the usually packed dance arena at reading festival, the place was barren, and they sounded nothing like their records, which did disappoint me.

luckily, they seem to have worked on their sound since, and have just released a great album, 'you have no idea what your getting yourself into'. a really universal album in my view, some fun tracks to sit and listen to, and some other tunes that'll get you and your mates jumping round the room like complete loons. i strongly recommend the album for anyone with an interest in electro, dance, rock, alternative tastes, although you might have heard the majority of the tracks before, as some of them have been lurking on the internet for a good year or so.

my favourite tracks of the album are 'with a heavy heart (i regret to inform you)', 'dawn of the dead', and 'weird science'. the first of which is a real party tune, and i'm sure would get any crowd reaching for the fucking ceiling, whereas 'dawn of the dead' reveals a slightly more musical side to the band, with actual singing as opposed to the usual screams of morgan quaintance. weird science is somewhere in between, but i remember having it blared in my ears as i skied down the alpes at christmas and it filled me with adrenaline. nothing on this album strikes me as bad, just some of the songs, 'being bad feels pretty good' for example, are just not as energy filled, and lack substance. so there, well worth checking out if your unfamiliar with them, and i'm sure after you say their name out loud a few times, you'll start adding "yeah?" to the end of sentences. funfun

if you are a fan its also worth checking out some of their remixes of some other classic tunes, links below, enjoy :)

www.doesitoffendyou.com

with a heavy heart (i regret to inform you)
dawn of the dead
weird science

remixxxes
the prayer
map of the problematique

We Are Scientists

pretty much my favourite band of all time. their first album (with love and squalor) is by far my favourite record of the past few years and i think i could just sit and listen to it for the rest of my days quite happily. i have managed to learn the entire album from start to finish on guitar, bass, vocals, and air drums. also, i think my sheer adoration of this band isn't helped my the slight crush i have on keith murray, the lead singer..

i just think they need some fecking credit, because they only recently seem to be getting any radio play with their new-ish single 'after hours', and tend to be left out of lineups for any big festivals, when in fact they are probably a hugely influential band.

after too long in the recording studio they have released a second album 'brain thrust mastery' and after a few listens through i have found a few great tracks (lets see it, chick lit, tonight), but i don't think it lives up to its predecessor. im not saying its a bad album though, its still amazing, just not compared to their debut. im expecting it to be a grower, and within months i know i will be blaring it on repeat throughout the house.

another thing i love about them is their sense of humour, they are quite an odd bunch, and if you just take a look at some of their videos on youtube, you might fall for them without having listened to a song. here's just a suggestion, to give you an insight into their strange minds, we are scientists at the NME awards 2008.

www.myspace.com/wearescientists

lethal enforcer
tonight

some grand tracks from the previous record..
inaction
nobody move, nobody get hurt