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Bleeding for Bloods
When I met Sydney band Bloods, I was outside a warehouse in Marrickville. I’d arranged to meet them at their rehearsal space for the evening, a red brick building known as The Pitz. I met them on the street, introduced myself, and was led inside; through a barred gate and a steel roller door, up a twisting indoor driveway, past a number of bikes in varying degrees of disrepair, a broken NBA Jam arcade machine, countless amps, instruments, and sheets of graffitied chipboard. I couldn’t help but be impressed by how seriously Bloods take the ‘garage’ aspect of their garage-pop-punk tendencies. It was perfect. Bloods have been kicking up a bit of a fuss in Sydney of late. Last year’s debut EP Golden Fang was met with enthusiasm from fans and critics alike, as was their accompanying Australian tour. Not that this would have come as a surprise to anyone familiar with the band. Equal parts FIDLAR and Daria, Bloods have a great blend of power and nostalgia. It’s music that makes you want to put on your favourite denim jacket and skateboard to the video store. As drummer Dirk humbly says, “I think our sound’s pretty fun. We’re pretty punchy!” The band’s frenetic style is apparently also manifest in their writing and recording process. “For Golden Fang, we recorded four songs in one day, so what’s on the EP is essentially how we sound,” MC tells me. In a wonderful way, the lo-fi quality of their recordings is actually entirely faithful to their live performance. As Sweetie says, “We didn’t add 40 layers of guitar and hidden synths when we were in the studio. We each just played our instruments, and that was it.” Obviously, Bloods’ blend of sugary harmonies and thrashy rock has got plenty going for it; since releasing their debut EP in August last year, the band have signed to Shock Records, and are planning to knock together a new album soon. “We’re so stoked to be able to say that we’re working on a record,” MC laughs. When asked whether or not having a label behind them is likely to polish their sound up a little, MC assured me that “we want to maintain the kind of raw energy we had on Golden Fang, and do it quickly and cheaply. A lot of bands kind of go overseas, or record over two months, and that’s not what we want to do.” As MC notes, “Bloods’ ethos is ‘just get it done!’ So, hopefully we’ll start recording in a couple of months, and you guys will be able to hear it soon!” If you, quite reasonably, don’t want to wait that long for another dose of catchy throwback punk, Bloods will be crushing it at Frankie’s Pizza this Sunday the 30th. As far as live music goes, you could do much, much worse, and as Sweetie observes, “Booze and pizza are pretty much our two favourite things.” Yep. Have a look at the band's new video for Language, from Golden Fang: 
By Jake Ausburn |
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