Send "Blood Red Shoes " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Drownedinsound |
 A little under two years ago, the unlawfully pretty Brighton two-piece Blood Red Shoes released their debut album Box of Secrets. At the time the general consensus (if such a thing could be said to exist) was that it was a good first effort, if a little overproduced. It’s not unfair to say that the record didn’t quite capture the full effect of their live shows, which at their best are deafening and visceral experiences. It might have been that the frustratingly protracted process of getting the album released left them too much time to meddle with the recordings, meaning some of the rawness which made them so enticing in the first place was lost. Either way, while this didn’t exactly spoil the album, it still meant that each listen was accompanied by a very faint feeling of disappointment at what it might have been.Follow-up Fire Like This comes with a promise that the superfluous gloss which beset its predecessor has been scraped away, as the record was recorded to analog tape with a bare minimum of overdubs. This seems to be a more logical way for a band like Blood Red Shoes to work, and one which is far more in keeping with their aggressive, elemental sound. Recording processes aside, the album actually has quite a lot in common with Box of Secrets. The band haven’t reinvented the wheel here, but they’ve taken the blueprint of their debut and built on it. For instance, their effortlessly skilful utilisation of the quiet-loud dynamic is still present, only this time infused with a little bit more subtlety. The vocal duties are once again split fairly evenly between Steven Ansell’s throat-shredding yells and Laura-Mary Carter’s sweetly bolshy singing. The interplay between the two is as effective as ever, which is just as well because their chemistry has always been one of the band's strongest assets, whether live or on record....full text |
| Bbc |
| Box Of Secrets, the debut album from Brighton’s Blood Red Shoes, was solid enough, but here and there you felt like Laura-Mary Carter and Steven Ansell were chasing a zeitgeist, pulling dance-punk moves because it was the in thing rather than because they, y’know, really felt it. Not so with its follow-up, Fire Like This. Recorded on analogue equipment with minimal overdubs – a nod, perhaps, to the working methods of Steve Albini, producer of Nirvana’s 1993 swansong In Utero, which Ansell has cited as a touchstone – this is a raw, unfussy rock record that forsakes gloss or studio tricks for instinct and urgency. The analogue recording, as it happens, does a lot for Blood Red Shoes. Two-piece bands can sometimes feel a bit skinny – remember, they invented the bass guitar for a reason – but the likes of Don’t Ask and It Is Happening Again see Laura-Mary’s guitar invested with a surprising heft. Technically, too, Steven has picked up some tricks, his drumming hard-hitting but complex and creative enough to keep the songs hurtling along at a decent clip....full text |
| Clashmusic |
| This Brighton duo have always shown a predilection towards the grungier, more distorted end of the rock spectrum and ‘Fire Like This’ is an all together heavier experience than 2007’s ‘Box Of Secrets’, yet one which still manages to maintain a glossy sheen. Simon Ansell’s forays towards the microphone have increased to the point his vocals appear on nearly every song and his bombastic drumming causes tremors throughout. It is Laura-Mary Carter who gives Blood Red Shoes their edge though. Taught and lean, bold and mean, Blood Red Shoes are fighting fit and ‘Fire Like This’ might just be their knock-out punch....full text |
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