Album Review: Bloods - 'Golden Fang'

Bloods are nothing at all like what many would imagine them to be simply by hearing their name. They are not: part of the rival gang to the Crips, which resides in Los Angeles, some sort of fierce rapping crew, or, much more suitable for this context, a hardcore or metal band. Bloods are a rather simple, garage punk sounding band from Sydney that are a little derivative of the 90's grunge bands from the ‘Riot grrrl’ movement. Never judge a book by its cover (or rather, a band by its name).

For the most part, ‘Golden Fang’ maintains a set sound, which is swiftly brought forward in each of the tracks. The downfall for Bloods on this release is that, without exploring this sound a little bit further, it becomes less fascinating. However, there are some elements in certain songs, which make them shine among the others.

‘No Fun’ fades in as if you are listening to the band break into song while casually jamming out. The vibe of the track is best described as a slightly cheerier sounding amalgamation of what The Hives do but with female vocals.

This does not apply for the following track ‘Into My Arms’ though, which feels much more feminine and is a touch pop inspired. The single has a standout overdriven guitar moment that kicks in at about three-quarters of the way through and varies nicely from the heavily repeated refrain of the song. ‘Bodies’ and ‘Hailing Down’, however, seem to blend too much into the mix.

‘Back to You’ begins fairly stripped back, with just guitar and then vocals, and there is feedback from the pending overdriven guitar kick-in. This small inclusion sets up anticipation well and really brings that little bit extra to the verses of the song.

‘Language’ has some nice and bright guitar lines that sets the track apart from the overall sound of the EP, but they seem to get lost in times where the song builds. The instrumental bridge however, is another highlight, with ambient vocals and an interestingly distanced lead guitar part.

The songs on ‘Golden Fang’ are steady and constant, and the guitars, as expected, are served up with extra noise. The problem here though is that, due to these commonalities, a lot of the time the songs on the EP suffer from the dreaded misfortune of sameness.

1. No Fun

2. Into My Arms

3. Bodies

4. Back To You

5. Hailing Down

6. Language