Blood Red Shoes - Fire Like This (2010)

Blood Red Shoes remind me of bands like Kaiser Chiefs and Hot Hot Heat. They play catchy rock music that does a lot of things we’ve heard before, but it does them fairly well. The music generally feels “right,” as in there is nothing especially bad or offputting about it unless you’re bothered by its derivative nature. I can’t help but wishing their sound had a bit more style to it—something to make the band a bit more individual. As it is, they don’t stand out from the legions of bands who combine garage rock sensibilities with a hint of punk, grunge, and sometimes shouted choruses. Bands like the aforementioned Kaiser Chiefs tend to stick because they release singles that are so infectious that you cant avoid them if you try, and when you hear them, while on line to pay for you groceries or what have you, it makes those three minutes slightly more entertaining than they normally would be. Blood Red Shoes don’t have that. They don’t have any standout track that makes me want to keep this album on repeat. They don’t have the one super-catchy chorus or that one really clever line to bring a smile to the face. They do have forty minutes of catchy alt. rock that has energy to spare but no distinct character to make this anything special. It’s a toe-tapper but a relatively empty one.

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