BLOOD RED SHOES 'Box of Secrets'

Like another scarlet imbued duo we all know, Blood Red Shoes have got the ingredients - kharmic colour choices, gender balance, and enviable press shots and styling – down for two part success. Similarly, the bands artwork and visual aesthetic, conjured up by brunette frontwoman Laura-Mary Carter and driving force behind the pair, are enviable.

The upsides in their music similarly seem to come in pairs. The simple punk three chord driven guitar work by Carter is delivered with such intensity that it achieves a perfect level of rrrrrriot girl angst and you’re not left, as you often are from such simplistic guitar work, wanting (but then wasn’t it the White Stripes that taught us that technical superiority isn’t everything). The vocals from both him and her are again, while simplistic, extremely haunting; particularly considering the fact that you get the feeling that when he sings things like “wish it could be me/wish it could be me” in ‘Take the Weight’ he’s talking about her and when she’s singing “Bury your head/bear your heart/No I can’t, I can’t” on the single ‘You Bring me Down” she really means it.

Ultimately, these guys work for the reasons that you would expect a duo to; they work together really well, both have strengths where the other has weaknesses and know how to work these (to the point where the lyrics almost point this out to you – “this space left a gaping hole, one I can’t fill on my own”), and they’re both pretty hot with some sort of pseudo-sexual chemistry going on.

My favourite track on the album “It’s Getting Boring By The Sea” brings these elements together perfectly; simplistic guitar given extra drive via reverb pedals, her vocals complimented by his backings, and percussion encompassing handclaps and cowbells, cultimating in a driving chorus in which both of them shouting “Let’s consider/a change of scenery/It’s getting/Boring by the sea.” By the looks of their tour schedule and the potential “Box of Secrets” demonstrates, boredom isn’t something they’ll have to worry about for a while.