You Always Loved Violence

Having already issued a compilation just one year into their career, Leeds garage rock duo the Blanche Hudson Weekend finally get round to releasing their debut album proper with You Always Loved Violence. Fans of their previous outfit, the Manhattan Love Suicides, will know what to expect, thanks to 14 '60s-inspired lo-fi scuzzy-pop tracks that owe just as much to the Spector-produced girl bands of the era as they do the likes of the Velvet Underground. Their fuzzed-up Wall of Sound is the perfect foil for Caroline McChrystal's achingly cool vocals, which flit between punk brattiness on the menacing "River's Edge," pure bubblegum on the sugary shoegaze of "The Bitterest Clash," and swoon-worthy melancholy on the jangly atmospherics of "Then You Tell Me." But while the album's barrage of grungy basslines, buzzsaw guitar hooks, and no-frills beats lends an authentic vintage rock & roll air to the proceedings, by the time the shredding chords and Hammond organs of "The Last Ride" (which along with opener "Union Square Blackout" is one of two re-recorded tracks from Reverence, Severance and Spite) draw to a close, it's difficult to remember anything distinguishable about the handful of tracks that have gone before it. Luckily, they save the best until last, with the bittersweet acoustics, yearning harmonies, and synth strings of "One Last Kiss" helping to create an instant student bedsit indie classic, while the pair's more experimental tendencies are showcased on the ambient synths and hushed melodies of the gorgeously woozy finale, "Blue Exit Down." You Always Loved Violence may feel completely out of kilter with everything else around in 2011, but that's where part of its charm lies, and while the middle section slightly sags, there's enough potential either side to ensure that its enigmatic sound is well worth investigating. ~ Jon O'Brien|