ninehertz

Bad Blood Recovery have long teased something special, yet struggled to gain momentum, seemingly originally hampered by the outbreak of Covid. Songs have appeared here and there promising much, but they’ve never clicked on. Which all makes this new EP, Perfidious, an exciting proposition, even if it is a bit of an odds and sods collection – anything from them now feels like a blessing.

For there is much to get excited about. The title track came out alone last year but is worth the relisten, as the clever “more Swans than Sleep” line that stands out from their promo materials instantly proving true. It reminds me of modern day Arabrot too, throw in a sprinkling of recent Hey Colossus and a dose of the Bad Seeds and what you end up with is a track that is somewhat unexpected, mature and ultimately wonderful.

There’s a remix of the track by Tiger Mendoza, the type of which I know some find intriguing – the chance to hear new angles as features of the original are transplanted into foreign genre landscapes – but I’ve never got this, so I move on. The remainder of the EP is a collection of songs called the Shonk Sessions, two recordings during Covid that were unable to be completed due to the studios closure. It seems, from afar, to be part of the story of the band and its stalled beginnings.

There is a natural slight rawness to them, but it doesn’t suffer for that, instead alive with energy. There’s some cracking songs too, a blend of sounds so as not to reside to obviously within a single genre. Wolf Fleece flies straight into a garage riff to grab your attention, with fuzz pedals applied to dive into stoner rock realms, while Out of Phase showcases Sean Parkin’s vocals, with a Nick Cave slant and, on this track, a lyrical spikiness that brings a recall to Jello Biafra. It’s a long track, the latter half unexpectedly floating away in a light psychedelic state.

There is a noise-rock base template, but common themes of post-punk and a countrified gothic Americana too, in particular on Graphite Sky for the former and Sweet Taste for the latter, which features some delicious guitar work that moves it from a loungey Echo and the Bunnymen feel to something looser and ultimately warmer, yet with a bit of an edge.

It is completely understandable why they’d release this collection – there’s no negative impact in terms of sound quality, the inconsistencies between sessions natural, and ultimately this is a band that deserves and needs momentum. Perfidious brings that, a curio with some great tunes in itself, and hopefully a springboard to launch forth from.