Blood Red Shoes – Box of Secrets

Box of Secrets – Blood Red Shoes

By Aidan Roberts

It’s not usually very constructive to declaim a genre of music based on assumed popular longevity – with perhaps the exception of disco reaching its well-earned death in the early 80’s – but it really does feel like the garage-rock-done-big-budget-style fad is starting to feel very old. Like many before them, UK youngsters Blood Red Shoes have delivered a debut record which zings with confidence and that radio-friendly snappy production that garners an almost instant crowd of followers these days. It all sounds tidy and energetic enough, but unlike their clear forefathers, The White Stripes, who pioneered this wave of rock with a kind of saucy punch and refreshing theatricality, the songs of Blood Red Shoes lack the lyrical validity or satisfying melodics to take the material out of the realm of the pow-pow and into a dynamic, satisfying listen. Perhaps age and experience will hone these guys’ skills and they can deliver a cracker rock record, but this one, alas, doesn’t feel like it’s there yet. Though you can bet it will be popular.

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