| Blood Red Shoes | |
|---|---|
| Background information | |
| Origin | Brighton, England |
| Genres | Indie rock, post-punk revival |
| Years active | 2004–present |
| Labels | V2 Cooperative Music |
| Members | |
| Laura-Mary Carter (Vocals and guitar) Steven Ansell (Vocals and drums) |
|
Blood Red Shoes are an indie rock duo from Brighton, England. They have released two full-length albums, Box of Secrets and Fire Like This, plus a slew of early singles on limited 7" vinyl pressings.
Contents |
Consisting of Steven Ansell and Laura-Mary Carter, Blood Red Shoes formed in late 2004 after their previous bands (Cat On Form and Lady Muck respectively) had broken up and they decided to "have a jam".[1] In an interview in Berlin, Laura-Mary explained that the band's name was taken from a Ginger Rogers/Fred Astaire musical, in which Ginger Rogers had turned a pair of white dancing shoes red with blood due to the amount of dancing she had done practising for the role.[2]
The band cite a large swathe of US-based underground punk and rock music as their primary influence, drawing inspiration from Babes in Toyland, Nirvana, Queens of the Stone Age, Q and not U, Pixies, Fugazi and Sonic Youth, although they also regularly highlight English artists Blur and PJ Harvey as music heroes. The band frequently distance themselves from current English guitar music and consider themselves to be a punk band, in ethos and attitude, if not in their immediate musical style. Blood Red Shoes deal with themes of frustration, anger, alienation, boredom, doubt, psychosis, confusion, escape and ultimately the hope of freedom or change, in their lyrics.
The band openly support anti-fascist campaigns such as Love Music Hate Racism,[3] contributing on the second CD of the 2007 LMHR compilation album with the track "Can't Find the Door",[4] and have also played the feminist festival Ladyfest in the past.[5]
They released their début single "Victory for the Magpie" on 18 July 2005, followed by the double A-side "Stitch Me Back / Meet Me at Eight", "A.D.H.D", and "You Bring Me Down" in 2006. After playing over 300 live shows around the UK,[6] they were signed to V2 in April 2007 with whom they released the singles "It's Getting Boring By The Sea" (11 June 2007) and "I Wish I Was Someone Better" (29 October 2007), as well as the singles compilation album I'll Be Your Eyes on 25 June 2007.
The band featured on both days of the 2007 Camden Crawl,[7] playing the Purple Turtle and the Earl of Camden respectively, and also headlined the inaugural 2007 Red Stripe Music Awards alongside Yourcodenameis:Milo.[8] They were one of four bands to play the NME New Music Tour 2007, with The Little Ones, Pull Tiger Tail and The Rumble Strips.[9] The summer of 2007 saw the band playing several festival spots, including T in the Park, the inaugural Underage Festival,[10] and the Electric Gardens festival. They also supported a wide range of bands, such as Biffy Clyro, Maxïmo Park,[11] Panic At The Disco, Lightning Bolt, The Gossip, Siouxsie Sioux and Rage Against the Machine.
Following the sale of V2 to Universal Music Group, the band's début album Box of Secrets was released on Mercury Records on April 14, 2008.[12] It was leaked to private torrent trackers in November 2007, several months before its retail release date. The band have commented that although they have no issue with file sharing and downloading free music, having their debut album become available outside of their control and without the intended artwork and lyric booklet was a disappointment. Laura-Mary from the band has designed the record sleeve for every release by the band.
They played a nine-date tour of the UK,[13] in support of the album, followed by dates across mainland Europe and Japan. They played major international festivals including Reading and Leeds, Summer Sonic, Pukkelpop, Lowlands, Melt! and many more.
After their Autumn-Winter tour of 2008, which covered over 12 countries, the band took a performance stop in the first months of 2009 to write songs for their next record. They began touring again in March 2009,[14] introducing new songs at every gig, sometimes including unfinished songs or those without lyrics. They opened for Foals in Brighton in 2009 to road-test some new material by playing all new songs except for "It's Getting Boring By The Sea" and "This Is Not For You". On 17 May 2009, the band played All Tomorrow's Parties (ATP festival), having been invited to play by The Breeders.[15] The band recorded their second album with Mike Crossey at the Motor Museum studio in Liverpool. They also contributed an instrumental track called "Carry Knots" on a compilation CD for Audioscope, in aid of the homeless charity Shelter, which was released in October 2009.[16]
On 25 November 2009, the band made a new track, "Colours Fade", available to download from their website.[17] Independent music webzine The Music Magazine commented that the band's sound had been boosted. Author Jamie Smith wrote: "It takes the tried and tested BRS formula and as they say, turns it up to eleven. It’s seven minutes long. It pretty much defines epic. It sounds HUGE."[18]
The album's first single "Light It Up" premiered on 5 January 2010 on Radio 1 by Huw Stephens filling in for Zane Lowe. The single was released on 22 February, one week before the release of their second album Fire Like This on 1 March 2010. Further singles "Don't Ask" and "Heartsink" were released in May and August respectfully, which was followed by a European and North American tour in October. In September 2010, the band recorded a few new songs which they hope to release as an EP.
In 2010, the band's song "It's Getting Boring By The Sea" featured in the film Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. It is in the film's official soundtrack and the band attended the UK premiere in London. The song was included because the director of the film, Edgar Wright, is a fan of the band and got the idea of including it after seeing them live.
They are currently busy writing and recording their third album.
| Year | Album | UK | NL | BE | Record Label | Format |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Box of Secrets | 47 | 73 | 58 | Mercury Records | CD, LP, Digital download |
| 2010 | Fire Like This | 95 | 48 | 42 | V2 | CD, LP, Digital download |
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| UK | |||
| 2005 | "Victory for the Magpie" | – | |
| 2006 | "Stitch Me Back / Meet Me at Eight" | – | |
| "A.D.H.D" | – | ||
| "You Bring Me Down" | – | I'll Be Your Eyes | |
| 2007 | "It's Getting Boring by the Sea" | – | |
| "I Wish I Was Someone Better" | 186 | Box of Secrets | |
| 2008 | "You Bring Me Down" (re-release) | 64 | |
| "Say Something, Say Anything" | 79 | ||
| "This Is Not for You" | – | ||
| 2010 | "Light It Up" | – | Fire Like This |
| "Don't Ask / We Get Bored" | – | ||
| "Heartsink / Into The Night" | – |
Laura-Mary Carter uses thick 1 mm Jim Dunlop plectrums, and thick "skinny top heavy bottom" Ernie Ball strings. On her Telecasters she uses standard tuning. On the Springtime, she uses an alternate tuning.
Steven uses a 4-piece drum kit and only 3 Cymbals.
Sometimes on live shows, Steve plays guitar and Laura plays drums for their B-Side "Surf Song".
