Singer / guitarist Laura-Mary Carter and singer / drummer Steven Ansell called themselves 'Two punk kids from southern England' when they made their debut as Blood Red Shoes in 2008 with the boisterous Box Of Secrets. The subsequent success almost broke them up, by the end of an exhausting tour the duo could no longer air or see each other. The mutual frustrations found a way out through the second
… album Fire Like This. The duo no longer sounds boisterous and energetic, but rather dark and lived-in. It still sounds rough, with the heavily distorted and layered guitar sound of Carter making the bass superfluous. Where the duo playfully complemented each other on Box Of Secrets, they now take turns to perceive the lead vocals. Fire Like This mainly sounds like a heavy and monumental chunk of punk rock with fortunately here and there a tidy and sing-along 'good all good' chorus. (MR)more