ARTIST: Blood Red Shoes
TITLE: Box of Secrets
YEAR RELEASED: 2008
CHART ACTION: #47 UK
SINGLES: I Wish I Was someone Better (#186 UK), You Bring Me Down (#64 UK), Say Something, Say Anything (#79 UK), This Is Not for You
OTHER SONGS YOU MAY KNOW: Probably not
LINEUP: Laura-Mary Carter, Steven Ansell
WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUT: Yes, another guitar / drums duo. Yes it’s a male and female guitar / drums duo. But it’s not a copycat of the White Stripes, the Japandroids or even Black Keys.
SOME WORDS, PHRASES AND CLAUSES ABOUT THIS RECORD: The inevitable comparisons to the White Stripes will come out, since the guitar is rock oriented and loud and the drums are in your ears. But Carter and Ansell are a true partnership in many ways the White Stripes were not. They both sing, and the musicians complement each other in many ways, The songs are all co-written as well.
Vocally, they remind me a bit of the Subways, another UK band from around this time with aggressive guitars and drums. But there’s something a bit more here – they’re pretty deft considering the limitations of simple instrumentations.
Every cut was good to great. It’s a fine album to blast around. Good riffs, good guitar, good drums, good energy. Yeah, it’s good.
NOTES & MINUTIAE: They released several EPs early in their career that’s collected on a release (and I’ll cover next for them). One of those songs was the track this album was named for, but didn’t appear on this.
IS THERE A DELUXE VERSION: No.
GRADE: A-: They proved me wrong, for sure. Not a copy at all, but something exciting.