The Bleeders are a Glasgow based two man group who put out what they describe as sarcastic pop songs with rocky music, they are made up of Jackson Harvey on Vocals/Guitar and Daniel McGuigan on Vocals/Drums. If you would like to find out more about the band then you can check out this interview I did with them a while back, by clicking here.
This review comes with an apology for the time it has taken to complete, I had it finished shortly after I received it, marked it as complete on my submission checklist, then promptly lost about 30-40 reviews including this one on an old hard drive (always back up your data folks!) but because the review was marked as finished I assumed it had been uploaded. It was only when I was able to recover the lost items on the hard drive that I discovered my mistake, so I apologise for the delay, but here we go, today I will finally be reviewing their EP ‘Greetings from The Bleeders’.
‘Greetings from the Bleeders’ opens with a building, suspenseful B-Movie type series of sound effects, it’s effective in evoking a particular reaction, and then the track explodes forward, I particularly liked the initial harmony between the two vocals, but the hammering melody is really gripping, you just get swept away, immediately caught up in it. I like that it’s not all just driving forward though, there’s a rise and fall to this track that works really well, the pleasant cacophony blends extraordinarily well with the slower more moderate bits, but even though this could be seen as a song of extremes, works incredibly well.
‘American Express’ is different tonally from the first track, but it’s still a strong track, more classic and familiar but still quirky, I especially liked the cash register sound effect. You really get a feel for the people in the band through their music, not just their ideals or feelings, like with most bands, but their humour and a real sense of self is present. Again, they also manage to blend fervent, high intensity sections, with slightly more paced sections really well.
‘Let’s Move to France’ opens with another sound clip style intro, much like the first track, and both seem to unsettle the listener just a little, but it works really well. I love the charging guitars of this track, they just blast at you almost unrelentingly. I’ve said before I have a preference for slower music, cause it gives you the opportunity to think and daydream while listening, but when you have powerful, blazing tracks like this, I think I might be inclined to change my mind.
‘Batshit Crazy’ has another offbeat intro, I think this way my favourite intro of the four, and it bleeds into another phenomenal high energy track. I haven’t mentioned it yet but the vocals are amazing, they can scream and shout, they can deliver the lyrics in a fast paced staccato, but regardless of how, they are talented vocalists who know how to work well with each other, and with their powerful music.
So that’s what I thought of The Bleeders EP ‘Greetings from the Bleeders’ and if you want to check that out for yourself then pop on over to Spotify. And while you’re at it support the band by following them on Facebook and Twitter.
First Published on: https://offtherecordblog.org/
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