According to the press release, ‘Let's Get Bloody’ ‘is for anyone who loves The Postal Service, Folk Implosion, Elbow, and the Pet Shop Boys.’ Now, I do happen to know people who like all of these bands – but they’re different people who like each of them. I mean, some things jut don’t go well together, and however diverse an individual’s tastes are...
Nevertheless, on the face of it, ‘Let’s Get Bloody’ has got the lot: like the artwork to ‘Blood Guts and Pussy’ by Dwarves, it features gore and nudity. Musically, however, it’s an entirely different story. While it’s not the short sharp abrasive punk blast of Dwarves’ album with a duration shorter than many 7” singles, nor – thankfully – is it the clumsy mess such disparate references may suggest.
Built around the theme of a friend’s failed suicide attempt, State Shirt penned ‘Let’s Get Bloody’ as an exploration of those moments of darkness that are born not of the cycles of violence that exist in so many people’s everyday domestic lives and upbringings. Suddenly, rather than taking on new depth, the album’s title and cover art seem rather flippant. Still, the music is at least considered, crafted and in places rather touching.
State Shirt’s lo-fi indietronica may have the occasional taint of emo about it, but elsewhere its originality and sincerity shines through and sets it several notches above manufactured hairy dye and eye liner angst mediocrity.
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‘Suffer Someday’ boasts a stadium-sized chorus and a vast production that extends far beyond the tiny confines of the bedroom it was recorded in. There’s a touch of Radiohead about the glitchy beats that battle the shoegaze guitars on what is, I have to say, is a most respectable and accomplished cover of Electronic’s ‘Disappointed’, succeeding as it does in retaining the spirit of the original while bringing something entirely new to the song. ‘Please Stop’ is reminiscent of latter-day Depeche Mode, and while that’s the Mode in second gear, it’s still no bad thing.
It’s also worth noting that ‘Let’s Get Bloody’ is open source which means the material is available for remix artists to create new works based on the recordings. It’s the little things that make all the difference.
State Shirt Online
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