This session was recorded on 5th March 2008 at the BBC's Maida Vale Studios and aired on Huw Stephens' 'In New Music We Trust' & 'Introducing' shows on 26th March 2008, the clip here is from the INMWT show.

The tracks played in the session are below and we may put the other tracks up online somewhere at some point but for now that player up there is all we can offer, though Blanket's set is up on YouTube.

Jonquil
Babe, So Now Why No?
Lions
Subtle Strains
Sudden Sun

Blanket
Collapse
Vroom Vroom Bang Bang Bang
Wood For Fire

Planet Sound

The news that this is "an Oxford bedroom recording project turned band" doesn't augur well, but it turns out to be a surprisingly lovely - if odd - LP.

Melodies abound, sound effects cascade and the unfamiliar moods of dulcimer and glockenspiel combine to create a mellow treasure.

Nothing wretched like chill or new age - real tunes and songs lurk within and the whole thing is gently arresting.

8/10

- Ian Gittens

manchestermusic.co.uk (http://www.music-dash.co.uk/releases/release.asp?item=3276)

The excellent emerging Bucks based label Try Harder produces yet another eclectic addition to its rosta. Jonquils debut album "Sunny Casinos" begins with summer-at-dusk busks mixed in with some odd clatterings, before melting away to a post c86 landscape. Played out on pianos and strings with haunting, distanced voices and echoes of folk via a double bass, flugelhorn and bouzoukis, Jonquil is certainly exploring as many boundaries as possible. As the album progresses it's also clear that Jonquils concept of folk isn't confined to the more tradional British sounds, as hints of Classic European, Japanese and maybe even Greek influences seep through with a natural, sharpened charm. Nearly every song is preceded by the earthy buzz of a field recording, which ebb away to allow the cascading canvas of acoustic instruments and intricate computer fettled sounds to shimmer and settle. It's all rather haunting and dark yet somehow incredibly captivating.

4/5

- AS

highvoltage.org.uk (http://www.highvoltage.org.uk/displaydemoreview.asp?num=1395&band=1146)

A fair sense of anticipation is likely to occur merely from sneaking a peek at the sleeve accompanying this debut album from Oxford project, Jonquil. The promise of instrumentation covering 'singing bowl', 'bouzouki', and 'clock', amongst a host of better known but surprisingly varied suspects certainly suggests we're in for an interesting ride.

Jonquil are more likely to creep up on you unnoticed than shout for your attention, the quiet ones of the crowd who just happen to make the largest impact. Pinning them down to a genre would be foolish, but Sunny Casinos is folksy and acoustic, with glimpses of Broken Social Scene (on the captivating 'Rings', complete with tuning fork and vocals from Lina Simon reminiscent of BSS's Feist) and the depth and intensity of Youth Movie Soundtrack Strategies. The latter comes as no surprise, Jonquil's ringleader, Hugo Manuel, is an occasional piano player for his fellow Oxfordians.

Sunny Casinos' secret weapon takes shape in its apparent simplicity. It is quiet yet compelling, more complex than it initially appears, like the voice on the largely instrumental 'Too Late' that is only evident upon close listening; an eerie vocal from Manuel that ranges from quiet speech to frantic cry, lost amidst the layers of insistent guitar that bind the track. Album highlight 'Square Rigger' features a building energy and quickening pace that falters and collapses into itself, and once again vocals take a backseat to beguiling melodies.

4/5

- Hannah Bayfield

new-noise.net (http://www.new-noise.net/list_709.html)

Jonquil hail from Oxford, but this collection of diaphanous musings seems to come from about three miles up. Vocals are used sparingly to great effect, adding to the contemplative mood, while a range of instruments from guitars to electronic clicks and blips build texture and carry to tone between blissful and downright sinister. Hugo Manuel, who anchors the band, is joined by three members of local group Wait For Coniston, as well as several guest performers who provide vocals and less predictably, flugelhorn. The result is an album that is easy to dismiss but which can just as easily ensnare. Once you're in, it is also a record that will continually offer up new treats, giving it a satisfying longevity. A Jonquil, incidentally, is a type of daffodil.

- Jon Fletcher

subba-cultcha.com (http://www.subba-cultcha.com/article.php?id=2303)

Jonquil provide the same refreshment that you'd find in drinking from a fresh mountain spring - the music clears your head, while simultaneously invoking an explosion of raw energy - mind-blowing new music and medicine for the soul.

My first thought when listening to this album was that it was recorded in some Buddhist Monastery in the hidden foothills of a peaceful Nepalese mountain. I mean, who else but a community of monks in search of enlightenment would use such simple and tranquil sounds, most notably the meditative Singing Bowl, to express themselves. Well, apparently enlightenment can also be found in a bedroom in Oxford, where Hugo Manuel's band is working towards sharing their message with the world.

The mix of instruments used on this album has been carefully collected - Clocks, Violins and Penny Whistles all getting their five minutes of fame. The resulting sound could have been messy, but these guys have been spot-on in producing a beautiful collection of what I can only describe as modern acoustic hymns with their ancient roots clearly on display. What I'm saying probably doesn't make much sense, but then, neither does 'Sunny Casinos'. There is no need to try and make sense of it. Just listen, breathe it in and meditate on how beautiful life can be.

- Kate Goldsmith

glasswerk.co.uk (http://www.glasswerk.co.uk/index2.php?db=national&page=reviews,review&id=3684)

One would be forgiven when first listening to this album for thinking that it was recorded in some religious shrine away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life.

I mean, who else but a group of pilgrims in search of enlightenment would use such simple and tranquil sounds akin to Stars of the Lid and Broken Social Scene, most notably the meditative Singing Bowl, to express themselves? Not saying that pilgrimages of this nature are unworthy, but it seems that this Oxford based outfit haven't needed to leave their pad to achieve this where Hugo Manuel's band is working towards sharing their message with the world.

The mix of instruments used on this album has been carefully gathered to form a fine artillery of clocks, melodicas, glockenspiels, reed organs, dulcimers and penny whistles, all getting their five minutes of fame. The resulting sound could have been messy, but these guys have been spot-on in producing a beautiful collection of what can only be described as modern acoustic hymns with their ancient roots clearly on display. This probably doesn't make much sense, but then, neither does 'Sunny Casinos'. There is no need to try and make sense of it. Just listen, breathe it in, and meditate on how beautiful life can be.

Jonquil provide the same refreshment that you'd find in drinking from a fresh mountain spring - the music clears your head, while simultaneously invoking an explosion of raw energy - mind-blowing new music and medicine for the soul.

- Gary Sims

NME (Tracks, p37. 27 May 2006)

Call them the Brighton White Stripes at your peril

Brightons Blood Red Shoes might well be a boy/girl two-piecewith a colourin their name, but dont expectany of that minimalist retro-garage blues racket round here. Their third single for microlabel Try Harder is instead a white knuckle mix of electric shock guitars and falling-down-a-hill drumming that owes a debt to the glorious golden age of riot grrrl - a time deep in the mists of the 1990s when, for about two weeks, rock took an oestrogen overdose and got a Kill Bill-style girlieass-whupping (until Nina from The Cardigans came along and ruined it by looking fluffy). Its limited to 1,000 copies on hand-numbered vinyl and weve already got one, so youd better move quick.

- PL

musicOMH.com (http://www.musicomh.com/singles6/blood-red-shoes-2_0506.htm)

Having already won us over a little while ago with their wonderfully frenetic Stitch Me Back, Blood Red Shoes make a welcome return with A.D.H.D.

Just as before, this is a storming charge through threadbare punk territory. The minimal instrumentation of the band is pushed to breaking point as spiky guitar turns to sheet metal blur and drums hammer unremittingly to form a haze of aggression. Meanwhile Laura-Mary Carter is at pains to stress that she just can't concentrate. She's so distracted in fact, that the frustration becomes evident in her vocals, her voice changing from angelic to satanic over the course of the song. A.D.H.D. is every bit as twitchy and raw as the title suggests, it's full of energy, and unlike the medical condition, this form of A.D.H.D. seems to have further sharpened the focus of the band.

The more I hear from Blood Red Shoes, the more I become convinced that they are the best UK band I have heard this year. It is practically impossible to not fall in love with their simplistically wired, and blatantly catchy tunes. For further evidence check out the b-side Can't Find The Door. It's the aural equivalent of BRS taking The Young Knives for a spin in a Hillman Imp to the nearest tweed shop, before roaring over a cliff in a new wave, herring bone, suicide pact. A marvellous bloody, pop punk death frenzy.

- Sam Shepherd

drownedinsound.com (http://www.drownedinsound.com/articles/836265)

Im so / Im so Distracted / Cant concentrate on anything at all sing the terminally twitching youths, fed on a culture of short attention spans and attention-seeking behaviour. But you, audience, how could you not concentrate on this?

Just two persons plus their respective instruments; four elements engaged in a serious playground tussle. The guitar is a bully, all sharks-teeth points with serrated edges, pointing fingers and knocking half-serious punches at its victim. Drums are vying to be noticed, all high speed clatter and hi-hat acrobatics. Over the top of this commotion, Laura-Mary, in the style of a snotty nosed brat, taunting Now now now now boy; Steven playing the role of wiry-limbed misaligned youth, Giving myself a heart attack.

They are perfectly within their rights to sound this arrogant even with just the few repeated over-and-over lyrics, this is one of the brashest and best singles of two-zero-zero-six thus far.

9/10

- Rachel C

gigwise.com (http://www.gigwise.com/contents.asp?contentid=17040)

Following on from their two sold out singles, Blood Red Shoes continue their onslaught of the ears with next track, A.D.H.D. Although only consisting of two members, they have managed to create a plethora of noise that hits unforgiving blows to the tender ears of whoever can hear it. However, its not just about the noise, its catchy chorus of Im so, Im so distracted will have you chiming along way after the track is over. The next song, Cant Find The Door is another round of brutally thunderous molestation, that you cant help but enjoy. Tinnitus anyone?

4/5

- James Brand

lostmusic.com (http://lostmusic.co.uk/article.php?story=20060506141949228)

The third release from Blood Red Shoes again on Try Harder label. The band have been picking up more and more radio interest of late. I can hear why.

This two track single is a really splendid little thing. Explosive guitars and edgy rythyms kick off all over the lead track 'A.D.H.D.' It really is fine piece of rock n roll. Like a more lo-fi, and dare I say it, better version of The Yeah Yeah Yeah's.

The band want to be either Spanish or French. Lord knows why. As they seem to be aiming straight at my British heart with their firebrand american tinged guitar stomps.

'Can't Find The Door' (available as a download from the bands website) is just as good as the lead track. If anything the guitars are more in your face. Louder. And somehow more disjointed. Blood Red Shoes are making the sort of noise that gets me smiling all over. Top quality rock'n'roll. The band will be on tour soon. I will try and make one of their London gigs to see whether this two piece can generate this much noise on a stage!

- tmc

manchestermusic.co.uk (http://www.music-dash.co.uk/releases/release.asp?item=3103)

The Blood Red Shoes duo of Laura-Mary and Steven hail from Brighton and whilst a hot bed of alternative talent, Blood Red Shoes cobble together something quite different. Laura-Mary belts out the raucous vocals just as if shes fronting X-Ray Spex and theres a raw post punk feel to both tracks. A.D.H.D. is a broken collection of guitar stabs and fractured arrangements with Cant Find The Door exposing a strong post-rock approach with plenty of off the wall chords, big sweeping crescendos played out on single guitar strings, all bolstered by grinding riffs and heavier rock musings. Its a collision of styles that shoehorns the fashionable, angry yelps into the frame of rock music, thats just the right side of gargantuan.

4/5

- JR

new-noise.net (http://www.new-noise.net/us_305.html)

The White Stripes, odious though they be, have left us one legacy of note. No, not The Raconteurs you dolt; the concept of leaving the out the bass. This idea has been picked up by loads of these trendy bands, and the result is very good, especially as most of them know better than to fuck around with the blues. Blood Red Shoes are one such collective, and they make this great, shouty girlpunk racket. Its indier than a barrel of Lamacqs and twice as nice, at least.

- Tom Mendelsohn

playlouder.com (http://www.playlouder.com/feature/+bunch-of-45s-43/)

In the continuing absence of a new Kaito album, Blood Red Shoes are yet another band who sound as if they've been heftily influenced by Norwich's finest. This is all dissonant stabs of guitar, boy / girl vocals, and an ooo ah ooo lo-fi chorus with a load of yelps over the top. A very good fizzy guitar pop song then, as befits a ditty called 'A.D.H.D.' and an anxiously refrain of "I'm so I'm so distracted", and certainly a lot more preferable to the execrable Help She Can't Swim, but given that Kaito effectively recorded this song four years ago, it'd be nice to hear things moved on a bit.

"This looks pretty home made. It's the kind of thing I can acknowlege as kind of fun, but it's totally not my thing, the screaming and yelling lyrics, I'm more into melodies. This is a little too... I like the cover, though. And the coffee stain on the back."

I think that's mine.

"What do you call this kind of thing? I hear a lot of bands like this, but what do you call it? The Yelling Thing? I feel bad because I know a lot of people I know would really like this. It's not a judgement on them or anything. What's the next one?"

- Luke Turner

subba-cultcha.com (http://www.subba-cultcha.com/singles_may.php)

wired, femme-fronted dance rock featuring ex-cat on form and lady muck members - a great tune, even if you do get the feeling youve heard it all before somewhere

- Jeremy Chick

glasswerk.co.uk (http://www.glasswerk.co.uk/index2.php?db=southcoast&page=reviews,review&id=3067)

I first saw Blood Red Shoes at Club Motherfucker, drunk. We were standing at the back. Someone from The Mighty Boosh was presenting the bands - the atmosphere was fantastic. In true fashion, we tried to ignore Blood Red Shoes because they were the support act and wed come to see Pink Riot anyway. As soon as they walked onstage they grasped our attention; they grasped everyones attention.

Blood Red Shoes are a two-piece. Bands that come to mind are a stronger style of Long Blondes with The Subways deliciously British accented vocal style, reminding of the classical days of the art of the groupie, namely mod groupies. Emphasis here is on the word style; the pair photograph as well as they sound.

In A-side A.D.H.D., the drum-guitar/boy-girl-vocals combinations work harmoniously; they go places together. B-side Cant Find The Door recalls Kings of Leon briefly, but keeps the thematic edge.

free-magazine.co.uk

Blood Red Shoes are shocking. They are the Marmite of music. You can only love something after you have tried it at least once, and then tried it again if you didn't like it (just to be sure). AHDH is a masterpiece of addictive nu-punk; a tribute to stripped, drug fuelled ingenuity, as are the band themselves.

They remind of a pop Pure Reason Revolution, in that there is more coherency and chorus repetition. Blood Red Shoes are however, on something a little more addictive.

The song conjures the essence of your cravings, levitating it from the safely distanced memory of old, back into the front of your head. The suggestion of marching troops is drawn from the angered, yet harmonious strikes on the guitar. It grabs you hard; the muscular female vocals undermine their boyish backing.

- Victoria McNaught-Davis

highvoltage.org.uk (http://www.highvoltage.org.uk/displaydemoreview.asp?num=1264&band=1076)

ADHD is the third single from Brighton duo Blood Red Shoes, a fitting title to a song that bounds about like a tearaway child deprived of Ritalin. Following in the genre crunching tradition of the mighty Test-Icicles, they draw upon a range of influences, fusing them together seemingly effortlessly to create a stripped down record that sounds both fresh and vital.

They are perhaps the most entertaining two piece to offer up their musical styling since Mulligan and OHare, with songs you can really dance to. If A.D.H.D were a film itd be the Texas Chainsaw Massacre (think killer hooks, lots of screaming etc), an instantly likeable number from a group I doubt you have heard the last of.

Whoever said ADHD was a bad thing was probably a loony, or a doctor or somethingand what would they know? Stay off the meds guys.

4/5

- John Lilburne

mapsmagazine.co.uk (http://www.mapsmagazine.co.uk/bloodredshoes.htm)

Gosh! Dont you just love this hYpeRActiVe kids on blue Smarties power-pop punk? In a week that sees Nestle reveal they are to withdraw Blue Smarties as they cannot find a natural colouring alternative that doesnt induce hyperactivity in the kids, this cut of aceness from Brightons Blood Red Shoes is another
assertive guitar and percussion only rip through the gut of conventionality and the belly of all things bland. Given the title, A.D.H.D, you get what you expect. Frantic spiky guitar hooks crashing through a wash of cymbals and the girliest of girl vocals come the breakdown: Im so, i'm so distracted. Unlike the
disorder, this is a cohesive effort that holds together and secures the attention of all those who are suckers for Be Your Own Pet/ Bearsuit chunks of infectious brilliance.

- James Ainsworth

noreally.co.uk (http://noreally.co.uk/opinions/singles/bloodredshoes-adhd.htm)

So far from the Brighton two piece we've had skyscraping DIY grunge, metallic garage rock riot sounds and crashing, noisy country and western lullabyes to falling buildings. All from within a seemingly tight framework of interplaying boy girl vocals, a heavily struck drumkit and repetitive, punishing guitar riffs. Now, with ADHD, the duo offer up yet another take on their stormtrooping signature sound. Stabbing and angular, it's like all those pretty art wave poster bands grew facial hair and got blood on their fingers. A band that show no signs of disappointing with another excellent single.

in one line, intricate, tight and crafty while being bombastic and infectious, their dad is definitely bigger than your dad.

cdtimes.co.uk (http://www.cdtimes.co.uk/content.php?contentid=3080)

There is a scientific theory that states if you played all the copies of A.D.H.D. - and there are 1000 - at the same time in a small village in southern Ecuador at even just the middle volume level on an average hi fi it would prompt EVERYONE over 40 in Kent to spontaneously write a letter of complaint to their council.

A.D.H.D. is yet another antidote to banality from Brighton's premier riot duo. More angular than previous releases this is still a juggernaut of taunt musicianship, relentless drumming and merciless piledriver riffs. It's honest and unavoidable like the bloody nose on the front of your face and another example of why Blood Red Shoes are fast becoming one of the more essential and standout of the rafts and rafts of new bands on new labels cropping up week in week out in the UK.

At the right volume you could burst an irritating neighbour's eardrum from your bedroom with this. At this rate, by the time they get 'round to an album Blood Red Shoes will be just about ready for WMD status. Lite the fuse.

drownedinsound.com

Ive got a great idea. Lets fuse the mind-bending quasi-math spazz of Hella, with so-sweet-its-almost-sickly melody, heaps of EMOtion and package it all in a sub-disco sprawl!

Shit. Foals have already done it.

Fighting out of the flames of The Edmund Fitzgerald, easily one of Oxfords most interesting bands, Foals are the sum of all the parts listed above and then some. Try This On Your Piano  is a consistently altering, technical number, voiced by Youthmovies Andrew Mears and laced with truly affecting harmony of both guitar and vocals.

The production of both tracks on this double-A-sided 7 leaves a good deal to be desired. The tri-guitar attacks are somewhat more muted and the drums feel a little flat, but the ideas contributing to what Foalsare close to achieving are engaging and leave me excited for future output.

Flipside, Look at My Furrows of Worry, with its elongated introduction and hazy, laid back vocal is underpinned by an angular guitar line that penetrates the consciousness and finds itself leaking back into your head at the most unexpected of times.

Another six months honing the melodic and pop hooks of Foals and well have a truly enthralling proposition on our hands, for now, passify yourself with this slab of plastic. Yet more fine output from the seemingly infallible Try Harder.

8/10

- Colin Roberts

http://www.drownedinsound.com/release/view/7384 

musicOMH.com

Foals, another band propelled forwards by the Myspace movement, describe their influences as things like; laughter, rum, indie kids who dance out the words of the song, clean guitars that sound like transparent sunshine. The latter of this quirky assortment is a beautiful way to illustrate their sound, captured in the single release of Try This On Your Piano.

The song begins with a watery guitar pattern, rippling its notes over and over. As the music progresses, the listener is immersed in intertwining melodies and beats, the aching vocals soaring over and under and in between the tunes. The result is a stunningly atmospheric sound that swerves in unexpected ways, surprises in the directions it turns and completely captivates whoever is listening.

While the sound of Foals is definitely like those of bands with similarly off-kilter, swirling melodies such as Minus The Bear, they still manage to create original tunes with their polyrhythmic guitars and skipping drum beats. The lyrical, atmospheric music of Foals is a very refreshing breath of fresh air and they are certainly one to look out for.

- Natasha Footman

http://www.musicomh.com/singles6/foals_0306.htm

soundsxp.com

Around five seconds into Try This On Your Piano, it begins to dawn on you that simplicity definitely isnt in Foals repertoire. Its tricky to describe their sound its as if theyve managed to feed several hundred guitar notes into a malfunctioning computer which has then spewed them out entirely at random, but luckily in the same key. Its a fairly unique noise that seems to be the result of three lightning-fingered guitarists and a hell of a lot of complex arrangement. Unfortunately, for all the lovely six-string dexterity on display, the basic principles of a decent drum sound are shelved in favour of the sound of two toothpicks tapping on a metal bucket. Its a shame the drummers obviously a nifty player and for a band this frantic and rhythmic, the production couldve been so satisfyingly beefy rather than slightly limp.

Still, fans of the mind-bending polyrhythmic oddness plied by bands such as Q And Not U will definitely find something to love here. There are also shades of influential 90s emo youngsters Capn Jazz in the yelped vocals and stuttering time signatures. The way the band play off each other and shift tempos is consistently interesting but they do occasionally meander off onto the path of self-indulgence. Second track Look at my Furrows of Worry has a slightly more sedate, graceful feel about it. Predominantly instrumental, it features a lovely slow-waltz bridge section with a fuzzy synth sound which could have come straight from a John Carpenter soundtrack. All in all an enjoyable, if strangely exhausting, listen. Maybe a few more forays into minimalism and a swift sacking of their drum engineer might be good for them.

- Phil O

http://www.soundsxp.com/3006.shtml

glasswerk.co.uk

Let's get one thing straight: this band are NOT Biffy Clyro. They are entirely different to Biffy Clyro. In fact, they are entirely different to any band i can think of, but Biffy Clyro are the band that they are least different from, and so it's Biffy Clyro i have to mention to offer some kind of comparison.

Their press release claims they create 'air-clasping off-kilter pop songs', which probably makes them sound a lot more 'usual' than they are. The first track doesn't go anywhere you'd expect it to, and I'd like to say both songs are pretty relaxed but they're just kind of oppressive - in a good way. Despite the style of the music not being particluarly 'in your face', there's simply too much going on to be relaxed - what else would you expect from a 5-piece, three of whom are guitarists?

There might be an air of Incubus about them in terms of song structure, but that might be me clutching at straws. It's impossible to describe the songs in terms of any other song. It's a reviewer's nightmare. But, isn't that what makes great bands?

I'm not saying that these guys are the next big thing, but there are harmonies and melodies everywhere, and the song writing experience of the band (formed from three other bands) definately shows. The only problem is, because the sound is so distinctive, the two tracks - 'Try this on your piano' and 'look at my furrows of worry' - sound a little too similar.

This is clever music. But its not Stephen Hawkins clever, its Stephen Fry clever - still very likeable.

- Heather Parry

http://www.glasswerk.co.uk/index2.php?db=national&page=reviews,review&id=2885 

manchestermusic.co.uk

Oxford based Foals (featuring Jack and Yannis, formerly of The Edmund Fitzgerald, as well as Andrew from YMSS!) use some very neat guitar arpeggios and a very dry, almost EMO style vocal. Its the mathematical indie values though that are given an extremely stripped back, bare, restrained sound and which are the most impressive point. Each instrument barely gets anything like a distortion, instead the multiplexed cascading notes drill out their own rhythm and locked in, hypnotising score. Look At My Furrows Of Worry developes this further, with as many notes as raindrops during a firm downpour, the melodic canvas that Foals weave is compelling and smartly delivered. An inspired revelation.

5/5 (Single of the week)

- Manuel Ecostos

http://www.music-dash.co.uk/releases/archiverelease.asp?item=2961 

subba-cultcha.com

Interesting post-rock sounds, shimmering guitars ala minus the bear with wrought overly emotional lyrics Remember when emo was really interesting, well this is like the next logical step from that (not the major label blandness of late) Great stuff!

- Jeremy Chick

http://www.subba-cultcha.com/singles_april.php

MUSICOMH.com

"If you thought the White Stripes sounded a little sparse, or that Huggy Bear's efforts hung together like a Airfix Kit made by a chimp, then it really is time to snap out of it. Stitch Me Back is hectic, it's shambolic and it is thoroughly exciting. Wild tumbling drums thrash blindly behind a guitar that, if you didn't know better, may well be being played by Albert DeSalvo. The vocals (culled from the playground) give it a worrying yet playful edge that only endears it even further.

Meet Me Eight pulls the reigns in a little, somehow managing to sound like some bezerk hybrid of riotgrrl and thrash metal. It's a little more controlled, but with Ansell and Carter sharing the vocal duties, endlessly calling out "Hey!" like the world's least articulate cheerleaders it retains that schoolyard charm.

If this pair had come up with Wizard Of Oz, Dorothy would probably go on a rampage, stamping on Toto, melting down the Tin Man and kicking the head of that pathetic lion. At that point, where childhood innocence meets random acts of violence, you would find some Blood Red Shoes."

http://www.musicomh.com/singles6/blood-red-shoes_0206.htm

DROWNEDINSOUND.com

"Sometimes the simplest of things are the most pleasurable. Sundays filled with procrastination can breed a week of smiles and happiness. Holidaying in Britain rather than trekking abroad allows for no language barrier and minimal stress. Three chords and simple drumming can also breed a sense of happiness and few are as articulate in this language as Brighton's boy/girl duo Blood Red Shoes.

'Stitch Me Back' is essentially a three minute chorus that pounds and pounds until you're beaten into submission and the words 'stitch me back' are imprinted in the centre of your skull. The band let up for moments of respite on occasion, breaking to move up and down the fretboard and drop to silence for a moment or two. Of course, you are once again lambasted with chants when the guitars pick things back up. Repetitive? Maybe, but this is a great, great song.

B-side 'Meet Me At Eight' plays off the magnetic boy/girl call/response routine that the band are so perfectly equipped to pull and whilst it lacks the infectiousness of the A-side, the more intriguing lyricism and guitarist Laura-Mary's controlling yelps showcase Blood Red Shoes' talent for outclassing most other duos in rock by managing to actually be interesting.

They'll never 'do' a White Stripes and hit the charts with dullardry and rehashed blues choruses; rather, the Shoes will be entertaining us all with a swell line in ballsy punk-tinged heavy pop songs for a good few years yet."

[8/10]

http://www.drownedinsound.com/release/view/6999

CLICKMUSIC.com

"This Brighton-based two piece have a somewhat intriguing sound: the duo play lo-fi UK punk with an air of simplicity. They're quite unique, with most punk bands today originating from the US, with their heavy British accents and very British sound. Blood Red Shoes are simple and effective with no energy wasted on useless frills.

Second track 'Meet Me At Eight' begins with good old-fashioned "oi!s" and continues the British punk sound. Laura Mary's vocals in 'Stitch Me Back' really make the track interesting with her different sound.

Blood Red Shoes are an interesting outfit, with a good sound and probably a great live show with tons of energy. The single won't break any boundaries, but it's a great ten minutes of music."

[3/5]

http://clickmusic.com/articles/1332.html

LOSTMUSIC.co.uk

"Another band from Brighton, England. I sense something going on down on the south coast of this country. Blood Red Shoes are a two piece that consists of Steven Ansell and Laura-Mary Carter. This single seems to be the band's second release.

This two track release contain raw energy a plenty. Lead track 'Stitch Me Back' is a gruff rock n roll song which has abrasive guitars and heavy rhythms. It's sole purpose seems to be pummel you into submission. Nice.

'Meet Me At Eight' starts (and ends) with an annoying boy girl 'Hey' call routine. Which goes on too long - but after this - the song itself is another self assured and gritty piece of guitar rock. This could be a lo-fi version of The Kills (another duo if I'm not mistaken). This is one powerful sounding recording. I like it.

Blood Red Shoes seem to stride the gap between indie and heavier rock effortlessly. When they sound heavy the recall the less cliched end of the spectrum and they have the DIY raw power ethic that marks the band out as one that sits well in the post punk (Wire, Big Black, The Kills etc) scheme of things."

http://lostmusic.co.uk/article.php?story=20060205161832759

MANCHESTERMUSIC.co.uk

"Brighton duo Blood Red Shoes (a homage to Ginger Rogers' haemoglobin soiled white dancing footwear) are made up of former members of Lady Muck and Cat On Form. "Stitch Me Back" is primeval , basic stuff not White Stripesy as you'd imagine, but full of metallic clangs and subterranean rumbles. The first track and double header "Meet Me At Eight" are fractured, calculated bursts of frantic energy, aspiring to an epic format, but often shoving a couple of chords in your face with the effectiveness of a pub fight in Salford. The note that comes with this says "Beautiful and brutal..." - s'true."

MMM

http://www.music-dash.co.uk/releases/release.asp?item=2816

GIGWISE.com