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Album Review

The Blanche Hudson Weekend
You Always Loved Violence Squirrel Records

Article written by Ged M - Oct 31, 2011

The Blanche Hudson Weekend: You Always Loved Violence

You can try and put the Blanche Hudson Weekend in a niche but they’ll always subvert it; their first EP followed the fuzzpop pattern of their previous band, the Manhattan Love Suicides, but their subsequent EPs were more heavily influenced by, in turn, sinister noise-pop and girl-group sounds. Now their debut proper (if you discount the wonderful compilation Reverence, Severance and Spite) loses that fuzzy covering completely, making Caroline’s voice far more prominent and backing her with more subtle pop textures. It still has that adrenaline jag but with a sweet aftertaste. Clearly, light is the new darkness!

They’ll always owe some debt to the JAMC, with their synthesis of Spector, garage-rock and the Velvet Underground, mixed with a B-movie mentality. And you can add Nico-esque to the adjectives when you hear the glitschy, electronica-full ‘Screen Test’. But they’re no longer a band to whose name you append a list of influences. ‘You Always Loved Violence’ is the Blanche Hudson Weekend developing their own sound, one which is loud and fast (the furious indiepop of ‘Union City Blackout’ fits nicely next to their contemporaries The Pains of Being Pure At Heart) but can be slow and intense, as shown by the acoustic balladry of ‘One Last Kiss’ or the reverby, after-midnight melancholy of ‘Then You Tell Me’. But like before, they’re always thrilling. ‘Getting Faster’ is a Blondie-style mesh of guitars and keyboards in a addictively melodic setting, while you might never have believed the old BHW capable of such urgent, rhythmic, keyboard-propelled shouty pop as ‘River’s Edge’, which doesn’t hide its charms under a fuzz coating. But even though there are as many love songs as hate songs now, it’s reassuring to hear Caroline assert: “you can’t sugarcoat all the hate that you’re feeling”.

Coupled with clever sampling (the use of the clip from In A Lonely Place is especially inspired), You Always Loved Violence is a lucky bag of sweet treats, still fast and dark and loud enough to please the old fans but chockful of top pop tunes to attract the new.

Links:
http://www.facebook.com/bhweekend
http://www.squirrelrecords.co.uk/the-blanche-hudson-weekend/
http://www.myspace.com/theblanchehudsonweekend