Band Of Skulls — Baby Darling Doll Face Honey

Baby Darling Doll Face Honey

Shangri-La

Bianca Marcus (CHARTattack)

09/02/2009 1:59pm

I've been loath to give other new albums a try since hearing Baby Darling Doll Face Honey this summer.

This record has set the bar for my listening tastes over the past three months — it's raw, deliberate, painful and undeniably sexy. Southampton, England trio Band Of Skulls have managed to combine vintage and modern sounds to create what promises to be their breakout album.

Baby Darling fuses equally strong male and female vocals, crunchy, distorted guitar and bass and crashing drum solos, reminding the listener the blues still belong to the Brits. Band Of Skulls use noise and silence, building up and breaking down to allow the sounds to take full effect.

Opening track "Light Of The Morning" is one of the album's strongest. Russell Marsden and Emma Richardson's bare vocals express yearning and resolve over a soulful guitar lead and the swaggering rhythm of Matt Hayward's drums. "Death By Diamonds And Pearls" is pure blues rock with the sort of angsty lyrics Jack White wishes he could call his own.

If there's a dance track on this album, it's first single "I Know What I Am," with its driving, clappable beat and singalong chorus. "Honest" and final track "Cold Fame" take the listener by surprise — they're alarmingly haunting moments of vulnerability that stand out against the rest of the songs. "Impossible" is one of those cinematic tracks that makes even the most mundane walk or drive through your neighbourhood seem significant.

Band Of Skulls have taken the best elements of blues rock and condensed them into a fresh, yet nostalgic album. Created by a skeleton crew of three, Baby Darling is a welcome reminder that less is often so much more.

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