Welcome to “Where to Start”! As always, we’ll be guiding you through the back catalogue of established bands - both obscure and relatively well known - and covering their best, worst and most middling cuts. We’ll be dividing the bands’ output into five categories: Start Here, Follow Up, Try This, For Fans Only and Avoid. This month: The Blood Brothers.
In 1997, five high school kids from Seattle, Washington decided to form a band. This included vocalists Jordan Blilie and Johnny Whitney, drummer Mark Gajadhar, bassist Morgan Henderson, and guitarist Devin Welch, who was replaced a year later by Cody Votolato. They called themselves The Blood Brothers. We know who they were, but what were they? “The Blood Brothers were one of those things that happened at the right time and the right place,” explains Retox and The Locust member Justin Pearson. Pearson is probably the best person to ask about this weird but innovative post hardcore quintet. Not only did he help release the band’s second album, 2002’s ‘March on Electric Children’, via his label Three One G Records, but he also currently plays with Blilie and Votolato in the equally deadly, but brilliant, Head Wound City. According to him, “In theory, [The Blood Brothers] shouldn’t have happened. However, the universe insisted on it.”
To elaborate, from the year they began until their original demise in 2007 (the band would later play reunion shows in 2014), this group of misfits mastered in the art of sassy hardcore that was both intelligent and psychotically noisey. Across five albums, the band continually added elements of art and pop into their outrageous style. “They drew from both the technical mind fuckery of art in general as well as the catchy epic elements of rock,” adds Pearson. Furthermore, he also states that they used “both masculine and feminine tendencies” to great effect, helping to draw in everyone, including “the punks, the weirdos, the alienated kids, the confused and pissed, and the ones with hearts and soul who wore that stuff on their shoulders.” In a weird way there is an appealing element to The Blood Brothers’ sound, potentially attracting all manner of misfits and outsiders. Whether it’s the unhinged, no care dual vocal led assault of their noisier moments or the dance/pop hysterics in their “lighter” moments, The Blood Brothers were, as Pearson states, “there for everyone and took what was needed from that universe. They handed that shit out to whoever needed it. Sure, it was about the music, but it was also about so much more.”
Start Here: ‘Crimes’
The one album which truly balances The Blood Brothers’ formula is politically charged fourth effort ‘Crimes’. It begins with ‘Trash Flavoured Trash’, a bonafide sassy hit, with Blilie’s low tones and Whitney’s high screams leading the volatile chaos. At the time, this album was a turning point for the quintet, as it saw their tastes shift further into art and dance punk territory. Songs like the groove laden ‘Loves Rhymes with Hideous Car Wreck’ and ‘Rats and Rats and Rats for Candy’ show this combination of new experimentations and old noise leading to spontaneously terrific results!
Further exploration into such territory allowed The Blood Brothers to not only become weirder, but also embrace more subdued tones. For instance, the piano led ‘Live at the Apocalypse’ is shrouded in an eerie, unsettling atmosphere, with the occasional outburst hungrily trying to break through. With the album’s lyrics critiquing the Bush administration at the time of it’s release, such a broad palette of tones perfectly captured the mood of the band’s outlook. Overall, ‘Crimes’ is the psychotically great introduction and must buy to first time listeners.
Follow Up: ‘…Burn, Piano Island Burn’
The early 2000s was an odd time in the musical sphere. Major labels were taking on bands whose styles didn’t fit in with traditional mainstream conventions. The Blood Brothers were one of those bands, especially when they released their major label debut, and third album, ‘…Burn, Piano Island Burn’. Produced by Ross Robinson, who had also worked with At the Drive-In and Glassjaw in that era, this record captured the mathematical psychosis of The Blood Brothers’ early work.
The entire experience that this LP provides can be compared to the feeling of being manically tied up to a hospital bed. Opener, ‘Fuckings Greatest Hits’ sets motions in full throttle, to songs like the title track and ‘Ambulance vs Ambulance’ creating an unsettling, insane amount of sassy dual ranting and bonkers low to loud noise. Such dynamics will admittedly dissuade some, but conform others to the infectious fevers of choruses; ‘USA Nails’ being a prime example of this. In other words, The Blood Brothers’ take on post hardcore can make or break your ears.
On the other hand, the art and dance punk stylings found on later releases do begin to creep into the fray. These slower etches create a further uneasiness than their noisier parts. The mid section in ‘Six Nightmares at the Pinball Masquerade’ is an eerily welcome filling to it’s chaotic starting and finishing parts. Meanwhile, ‘The Salesman, Denver Max’ utilises acoustic calm before exploding into the typical batshit nonsense. All in all, ‘…Burn, Piano Island Burn’ is a worthy second follow up for newcomers to the band as it finely captures the weird antics of their early period, whilst adding experimentations which would be prominent in later efforts ‘Crimes’ and ‘Young Machetes’.
Try This: ‘Young Machetes’
What would end up being the band’s final album before splitting up a year after it’s release, 2006 fifth effort ‘Young Machetes’ had an accomplished aura surrounding it. The quintet seemed to really refine their combination of noise, hooks and dance after nearly a decade of hard work and touring. As always with The Blood Brothers, the opening track pulls you into their schizo-tenacious sphere. ‘Set Fire to the Face on Fire’ lives up to it’s namesake as it burns the bridges to your sensibility before breaking down into a synth fuelled frenzy. It’s noisey, yet accessible for the ears with it’s hooks and poppy undertones. This so called “accessible noise” is also evident on the likes of ‘Rat Rider’ and ‘Nausea Shreds Yr Head’, which recall their early established style, but with a more focused and catchy delivery.
Elsewhere on the album, the band hone in on their art and dance influences with intriguing results. For instance, tracks like ‘Laser Life’ and ‘Spit Shine Your Clouds’ strut an addictive essence to their sassy brimmed core. It is here that the aforementioned influences take the lead with the band’s usual cacophony not far behind. Sometimes though there will be a collaborative shift between the styles. ‘Vital Beach’ for instance kicks up a groove filled stir on the verse before exploding in a shrill chorus. Yet, the band do find time to welcomingly restrain their noise on certain sections. The likes of ‘Camouflage Camouflage’ and the chillingly percussive ‘1, 2, 3, 4 Guitars’ create a clutch to your seat tension in their quieter moments. This makes it all the more thrilling when the short bursts of psychosis do break out.
If the record has one nitpick it would probably be the fact that it does outstay it’s welcome a tad. In contrast to the albums above it, ‘Young Machetes’ does have bit too many songs. That aside however, when you have tracks that are deliciously visceral like the loud to quiet ‘We Ride Skeletal Lightning’ or the hazy, reflective lounge vibes in closer ‘Giant Swan’, ‘Young Machetes’ is an outlandishly good experience to plug into.
For Fans Only: ‘March on Electric Children’
With 2002’s ‘March on Electric Children’, The Blood Brothers were only just starting to explore the complex structures in their sassy fuelled post hardcore in the previously mentioned albums which followed this second LP. Revolving around a concept involving the characters of Skin Army (the personification of cultural artificiality) and Mr. Electric Ocean (” of exploitative media), such musical exploration by the group was still at it’s infancy, yet still quite intriguing nonetheless. Take “Meet Me at the Water Front After the Social” for instance. It twists and turns in adrenaline fuelled psychosis, yet as it progresses it eventually loosens up and winds down the tension towards it’s end. At the time, this was a step in the right direction for the group from their debut album, which we’ll go into further down the page.
Other tracks which are worth mentioning include the rhythm to noise shifting “Siamese Gun” and the off kilter antics in “Kiss of the Octopus”. These were further examples where the band showed their potential worth as an outfit. Yet, you can’t help but feel that the focus could be a wee bit tighter. Whilst the album does have crisper production values and a desire for variety, it doesn’t quite hit the mark overall, which is the album’s downfall. As a record, ‘March on Electric Children’ is certainly a must have for enthusiasts, but not essential in the general scheme of things.
Avoid: ‘This Adultery Is Ripe’
When stacked up against the rest of their releases, the first Blood Brothers album, 2000’s ‘This Adultery Is Ripe’, is definitely the weakest. It’s tinny production values and aura of uncertainty does make the album come off as a forgettable piece of work. However, focusing on the “uncertain” part, the band were still a young group, who were still figuring out their footing.
Here, The Blood Brothers drew quite heavilly from their influences, such as Swing Kids and Drive Like Jehu, that they were only just about working out the blueprints to what their established style would be. For example, tracks like ‘James Brown’ and ‘Rescue’ showed off their sassily psychotic delivery. Meanwhile, ‘Doctor! Doctor!’ hinted at their unsettling vibes, whilst ‘Marooned Piano Island’ identified the potential of what dual vocalists could bring. Yet, when it comes right down to it, this first LP comes off as an unnecessary thing to listen to.
In conclusion, we hope this guide to The Blood Brothers has piqued your interest. They were an innovative yet off beat group who mastered the art of combining ear shredding noise with delicately good pop tendencies. They utilised this craft to the best of their abilities, thus attracting all sorts of outcasts to their rallying cry.
AARON LOHAN