Blood of the Bull – Bend Over

It’s this feeling of elegant, Bohemian chamber pop; the sound of suede and crushed velvet and absinthe in the afternoon.

It’s this feeling of elegant, Bohemian chamber pop; the sound of suede and crushed velvet and absinthe in the afternoon.

 

(Soft Power) http://softpowerrecords.bandcamp.com/album/bend-over-e-p

Now here’s a thing. Hillary van Scoy, hot from DIVORCE and Aggi Doom, two bands Incendiary liked and wrote about, has put a new band together called Blood of the Bull; and on this evidence they’re hot as can be.

Bend Over, their debut EP has only four tracks, sadly; but I suppose in these times of cuts and restrictions we have to be happy with what goodness we can eke out of anything. And luckily Bend Over is a belting release; infused with an independent spirit that also is a tad will o’ the wisp. You’re not altogether sure as to what it is you love about this record, as it’s nowt new and on the surface pretty straight forward chamber pop, but it can wrongfoot you. What it does have is a strong attitude; tracks like Bend Over are haughty affairs, dispensing both wisdom and scorn at a stately plod. Elsewhere, Hold Your Head Up High and You Are My Favourite Communist eschew hippy rock airs and graces in the style of Jefferson or Amon Düül II – note, it’s not the sound, more the style in which the sound is laid down. It’s this feeling of elegant, Bohemian chamber pop tat’s so attractive; the sound of suede and crushed velvet and absinthe in the afternoon.  But it’s focused, and there’s precious little pissing about here. Best track is the moody, dreamy I Am A Dog, a song enveloped in a beautiful silken miasma; not unlike the gauze that used to hide the cherubs’ naughty bits (you know that gauze that Pete and Dud told us all about, way back when).

Well worth a listen.