- Critic score
- Publication
- By date
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Mar 10, 2014Carrying almost nothing in the way of flab, Blood Red Shoes is the band standing entirely on their own four feet--a rare occurrence in modern music. They've not reinvented the musical wheel, but their strength as a unit, and as musicians, cannot be doubted.
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Feb 28, 2014There’s a human element to the record, missing from so many of their contemporaries’ efforts, waiting to be engaged with for those who choose to scratch beneath the surface; for everybody else, Blood Red Shoes will simply be the riotously fun sound of a band who have well and truly cast off the shackles.
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Feb 28, 2014It's unabashed, unrepentant, contemplative when it needs to be, volcanically in-your-face the rest of the time.
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UncutMar 7, 2014Their fourth album, self-produced and recorded in Berlin, finds the smart hooks and spiky lyrics all present and correct. [Apr 2014, p.69]
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Mar 3, 2014Blood Red Shoes is probably the duo’s most satisfying effort to date--frustratingly short of the “quiet triumph” they sing about on closing track ‘Tightwire’, but an admirable racket nonetheless.
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MojoMar 21, 2014It's breathless stuff, but can feel homogenous after a while. [Apr 2014, p.98]
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Q MagazineMar 18, 2014The Brighton duo's fourth LP, recorded in Berlin, throws that baggage away in favour of a cavalier hedonism. [Apr 2014, p.105]
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Kerrang!Mar 14, 2014The album just needs a standout moment among Blood Red Shoes' moods to make these songs genuinely memorable. [1 Mar 2014, p.54]
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Mar 3, 2014A genuinely pleasing aspect of this album is hearing Carter’s vocals dominate more than they have in the past. However, the pace of the second half is less full-throttle and less memorable for it.
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Feb 28, 2014Intimate moments, however, like the haunting, heartbroken folk of ‘Tightwire’ show how primal this fourth studio collection could have been.
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Feb 28, 2014Too often, the same formula appears with uninspiring choruses being too frequent; whilst these short, sharp bursts of fuzzy punk sound great in small doses, this collection will probably find itself confined to the shelf before long, as its longevity may be questionable with little poppy catchiness present.
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May 1, 2014Blood Red Shoes is an album firmly wedged in comfort, occasionally straying out into more interesting waters, but usually retreating to old tricks. For an album that tries so hard to be angry it’s just mild.