Blanche – Little Amber Bottles
I first became aware of Blanche back in, erm, 2004 I think, when they supported The White Stripes at Alexandra Palace down in London. I got tickets at the very last second from a Radio 1 friend and, although I’d heard their name, I knew nothing of what to expect from Blanche.
They were absolutely superb live, all raucous American country with that macabre carnival atmosphere I generally associate with Nick Cave . I bought their EP on the spot and rushed out to buy debut album If We Can’t Trust the Doctors later that year. Doctors is a good record, but it’s patchy and it didn’t quite satisfy my need for that crazier, darker Blanche I had seen on stage.
Little Amber Bottles, on the other hand, does just that. They get called Gothic Country a lot and this is a decent enough pigeonhole. I tend to put the Willard Grant Conspiracy in this bracket too, although with Blanche there’s less of the sinister, brooding shadow that tends to hang over a Willards record. It can be dark at times, but it reminds me more of The Handsome Family with a little added stomp and rattle than anything else.
Reviewers often use the word ‘mature’ to describe second albums by groups when what they often mean is that they just like it better than their debut. I’m tempted to do the same myself because although I can’t describe exactly how, this does sound like a more mature Blanche. Maybe because it seems to have a little more depth and drive to it, more conviction perhaps. I’m just trying to verbalise impressions here, so I can’t literally explain how these things are embodied in the music.
I love this album though, and this is good. So many shitty sophomore albums in 2007, this may not be famous but it’s great to see a band make a solid start and then really push on from that and get better and stronger. If they keep this up, Blanche should be able to carve out a prominent position for themselves at the very crowded peak of the alt-country genre.
Blanche – A Year From Now
Blanche – Oh Death, Where is Thy Sting?
i heard ‘What This Town Needs’ on xposure a few months ago and thought it was genius. thumbs up for Blanche!
Given the rather bleeding edge nature of Fucking Dance I am a little surprised to find you a fan of little known Gothic Country groups, I must say. But yes, thumbs right up indeed!
I’m hoping the new album is a grower. It’s undoubtedly good, and you have to love a band that make such an effort at a gig, but I’m not sure I’d agree that that they’ve turned any darker.
I don’t know if they’re any more dark than previously, no, but they are definitely a bit tighter. I don’t know what that means exactly, but it feels like the right word.
And it is a grower, I’ve been listening to it for a while, and it’s getting better all the time. Not an all-time great obviously, but a really really good album.
i love “O Death, Where is Thy Sting”
Can’t wait ’till i get the new album