Album of the Week: Blood Red Shoes – Fire Like This

Steven Ansell and Laura-Mary Carter look like that couple you knew at university.

You know exactly who I mean. They got together in fresher’s week, stayed together throughout the whole of their studies and split within months of graduating because their relationship couldn’t cope with the real world.

You remember them staying in each other’s rooms, constantly playing whimsical folk like Belle and Sebastian and Beth Orton and generally being all cutesy-wutesy with each other to the point when their mere presence made you want to vomit.

Well, Laura and Steven will make you want to vomit too, but in other ways – the primary one being that they are really fucking LOUD.

Blood Red Shoes - cute but ferocious

I’m talking floor-shakingly bowel-looseningly loud. They make more noise than a duo has any right too, especially one that looks like they should be playing Au Revoir Simone covers at their local beatnik café.

Their first record (2008’s Box of Secrets) was crammed full of shuddering riffs and crashing drums and plenty of actual tunes to go with the feral bluster, and Fire Like This ticks all those boxes and plenty more.

It certainly sounds little more mature, but Blood Red Shoes haven’t let the passing of a few years soften their approach.

Opener Don’t Ask takes a while to warm up but hits a rhythmic stride about two minutes in and Light It Up boasts a tremendous singalong, punch the air chorus.

It Is Happening and Heartsink aren’t too shabby on the ferocious riff front either.

But two songs mark this album out as not being a simple knock-off of their debut.

When We Wake slows things down a little, four songs in and Laura-Mary’s menacing vocals are her strongest to date.

And Colours Fade is the epic closer, stretched out to beyond seven minutes, veering into post rock territory.

It’s an effective way to end a powerful piece of work.

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