This thing is a riot, a wonderful beautiful riot of sound. A riot of seemingly random changes in rhythm, gorgeous guitar and vocals that seem to be just there and just right.

Oh boy is ‘Fun Times’, the EP opener, funky. The obvious comparison would be The Red Hot Chilli Peppers, it’s got that funky feeling, but then again no, this thing has something of it’s own. It’s way heavy, the vocals aren’t really sang nor they are shouted, it’s just this unique style all of their own, with this rather great slurred thing going on.

And what is this, this gently plucked guitar, it’s the intro to ‘Love Yourself’. But does it carry on like that, does it hell. There’s these bursts of riffage, of noisy glorious guitar. And that gently plucked guitar is delicate, it’s strangely mood altering. And the vocals, well these are bits where there are just all sorts of vocal lines crossing and weaving. And the vocals over the outro, well you just have to hear them to believe them.

And then suddenly for ‘Games People Play’ UNCOMELY turn to delicate West Coast singer/songwriter stylee. It’s all gently strummed guitar and the sweetest vocal. But then it isn’t, it’s the heaviest thing, and then it isn’t it’s sort of rocky but not that heavy with the creamiest guitar I’ve heard for a long time. It is the strangest thing, it’s like a mutant ‘big rock ballad’. It has these touches of discordance. And it finishes on a shout, that’s right a shout.

For ‘Absolutely’ the band return to that gentle guitar and weaving vocal lines, until it explodes, it explodes with a shout, a scream, the nicest non-vocal vocal. And then it just goes back to being delicately plucked guitar.

The thing about this EP is it’s disconcerting, it throws things at you unexpectedly, you just never know what to expect, what’s coming next. And that is a beautiful thing, I just adore music that’s unpredictable and seemingly on the edge of falling apart. I love music that just throws all sorts of styles into the mix, and the tracks on this EP do that, they do it to a point of ‘what the fuck, quite what the fuck is this band doing’. But ultimately I don’t care, for what they are doing is quite quite beautiful.

The problem is that I can’t quite find anything – beyond a list that would go on for ages, absolutely ages – to say it sounds like this band, and then that band. The best I could come up with is that it’s like salted liquorice – the first time you have it that sulphur taste is unexpected, it really seems to be wrong but then it isn’t, it just works and you become quite addicted to it. Normal liquorice is nice but it doesn’t have that edge, that thing that feeds the need. That’s how I feel about the songs on this EP, it’s the unexpected that feeds my musical need.

I reviewed Sandra’s Wedding’s album ‘Northern Powerhouse’ back in April last year and was really taken with the band so I was keen to take the chance of reviewing a new EP from them. And boy was I glad I did.

I’m not going to be reviewing these tracks in the order they come in, this is because I want to save the best until last.

So first up we have ‘Good Morning, Bad Blood’. This track kinda reminds me slightly of The Beautiful South. It has that rather plaintive vocal thing going on. Then at others I get hints of all sorts of 80s’ guitar led singer/songwriter bands. The thing about this song is that it’s restrained, it’s quietly effective. It just worms its way into your head, and by the third listen you’re finding yourself singing along.

So what do we make of a song that counts in in German, for this is what ‘Saturday Night Television’ does. Actually I rather expected it to break into some sort of Kraftwerk type thing but it, of course, doesn’t. What it does is to introduce a rather sad sounding song with some quite beautiful trumpet on it. Quite what this song is about I haven’t been able to get an exact fix on but it seems to be about a couple who watch television instead of talking, and when that isn’t there their relationship just isn’t the same.

And oh bloody hell I thought as ‘Run, Rabbit, Run’ burst into my listening room with this huge Love-esque horn led swirl. It doesn’t continue the same but that feel keeps coming back. It’s fast, it’s insistent, it has these bits where it suddenly becomes all sparse. It is in fact incredibly cleverly put together and horribly addictive. And that guitar break, boy that’s good.

And now we are at the point where I have to review my favourite track from the EP ‘Titanic’, forgive me while I listen to this say three or four times in a row and I’ll be back.

‘Titanic’ is huge people, it’s this incredibly moving piano led ballad. And there is just voice, piano, and these lovely strings. And those strings swell in the most heart-wrenching way.

It is the story of a failing relationship likened to the sinking of the Titanic. This sounds corny, it isn’t, lyrically it’s so so effective. And the way this song is put together. Look I challenge anyone, it doesn’t matter what sort of music you say you like, not to be singing the chorus by the second listen around. I’ll help, it goes

‘And if this was the Titanic, we’d be hearing violins by now, by now, by now’

And the by the end it goes

‘And if this was the Titanic, we’d be hearing violins by now, by now
And if this was the Titanic, we be slipping down down down, down, down down, down down
And if this was the Titanic, we’d be hearing violins by now, by now, by now, by now’

And this is all so moving. So meant, so full of emotion. I keep seeing this picture of a huge crowd at a gig singing the chorus when I hear this. It has that huge gig highlight thing going for it. Look, you can accuse me of being a big softy who likes really sad songs, and I admit I do, I love a sad song, but it isn’t just the fact that it’s sad that makes me love this track, it’s the way it’s played, the way it’s arranged.

With the album I found it crept on me, with this EP I was immediately impressed, hugely impressed. These are engaging songs emotionally, lyrically and musically. The song writing on this EP is just up there, the playing is spot on, and the feel of the tracks is just right. If say ‘Titanic wasn’t there, this would be a really fantastic EP, but with that, it’s a must listen people.

The EP is available digitally on iTunes, Spotify, Amazon and Google Play plus a limited run on vinyl and CD.

The info

“Good Morning, Bad Blood” is the new EP from Sandra’s Wedding. The Goole based four piece released their debut album “Northern Powerhouse” in February 2017, which was well received by reviewers.

“Good Morning, Bad Blood” deals with similar themes to its’ predecessor with love, the complexities of relationships and the mundane side of romance all running strongly through the four tracks. Produced by Dan Foster at Hull’s Element Studios and mastered by Pete Maher, it.

Sandra’s Wedding are:

Joe Hodgson – Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Piano
Jonny Hughes – Electric guitar, Mandolin
Tom Hill – Bass Guitar
Luke Harrison – The Drums, Percussion

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sandraswedding/

Before I start this review I have a confession. And it is that Fie! Fie! Fie! Are one of those bands I’m always forgetting I rather like. It almost comes as a surprise every time I hear them that I like what they do. I think it’s because they are so far away from what I usually listen to – those ‘where in hell does that sound come from’ bands and those oh so beautiful grinding noisy bands – that I have to be reminded that I actually really like well written guitar – acoustic and electric – led songs with, and I think this is why I do actually rather like Fie! Fie! Fie!, this touch of arch, a touch of twist. Without that these would just be, how shall we say it, rather pleasant, and wouldn’t stick in your head. The other thing about them is that, and this I promise won’t influence the review, is that they are a nice bunch of people.

I think, now I really have to think about it, that one of the reasons I like what they do is that I hear these hints of bands and singers from the 70s I have rather a thing about like the quieter acoustic songs of Bowie, the edge of strangeness in Cockney Rebel, touches of Bolan and Mott The Hoople.

The first surprise I got from listening to this is the range of material, there are gentle ballads, there are way arch songs, there are political songs, and there are, strangely for a band who emphasise that they are acoustic led, out and out electric freak outs.

And before we dive in, I just have to say that the guitar playing on these songs is just hugely impressive. It’s not overly flash, but you can hear the quality there.

The album starts with an instrumental intro that I found vaguely Floyd sort of sounding in a gentle acoustic way. And then to ‘Edge of Space’ which is one of my album highlights. This track was actually released as a single some time ago and I remember being somewhat surprised by quite how different it sounded to things I had heard from the band before. For this people is spacey in a gentle sort of way. It’s all keyboard washes and simple guitar lines. And here you get to hear that slightly mannered vocal which works really well.

I like ‘Hit the Spanish Main’ but this is a track which has divided opinion in the people I’ve played it to. Some like me think it’s a fun groove of song, others think it’s possibly a little too much of a fun track. But I’m going to go with what I think here, this is just a blast, and check out that vocal – lovely stuff – and those blasts of electric guitar. And it’s funny people, there’s nothing wrong with a track that makes you laugh out loud.

‘Everything I Told You’ is one of those songs that I’m finding it hard to decide how I quite feel about it. On the one hand I love the gentle acoustic arrangement but the vocals I sometimes like and sometimes not. And checking my previous review I appear to have changed my mind about this track, but that happens sometimes. ‘Famous Liars’ continues in that acoustic arrangement but it’s more urgent, it has this gentle pulse of a rhythm. This is easier to say, I really like this track.

And then to ‘From the Wreck’ another of my highlights. The first time I heard this I got hints of Cockney Rebel and that hasn’t changed with repeated listening. This track has the nicest ringing guitar.

And something that just jolted me, after the let’s say, smoothness of the tracks before ‘Bullet Points for the Bulletproof’ is this loose, almost folky thing. Look I really really like this but it’s something you just have to hear OK.

And they are not finished yet, ‘Bloody Lane’ is part urgent acoustic thing and part almost screaming guitar thing. This thing rocks, it rocks in it’s own way, but it rocks.

‘Bleeding Obvious’ is an epic almost six minute track. Quite what it’s about I haven’t been able to work out. It’s clearly about something, there’s a hell of a lot of really well put together lyrics. My guess, and it is only a guess, is that it’s something of a political comment but I can’t be sure. But the thing is that it’s such a well put together song that listening to it again and again in an attempt to get a handle on what it’s about is a really good experience.

Album closer ‘Outrospective’ is an out and out rock, fuzzed out guitar led track at least at first. It has a slight feel of space rock in there. But it has the most beautiful dropout section that it fades out on.

The thing about this album is that it’s an album, it has songs that are immediate and others that you need to let grow on you. It has things which are of the Fie! Fie! Fie! I know from seeing them play live, and then it has those things that come as surprise. These are songs with words that are extremely well written. Taken as a collection it’s extremely impressive, there is the odd song that for me doesn’t work as well as others, but that may not be what you feel.

And I’m still being surprised by quite how much I like this album even though I’ve listened to it lots. I’d suggest taking a listen, you may be surprised too.