Three brand new cuts that reveal the darker side to Brand Violet’s psyche. Opening to the spacey carnival-esque ‘Catnip’ a brooding cut that sees them shying away from the usual poppified format in favour of a more edgy dynamic, still sounds like the Bride of Frankenstein crossing swords with ‘Money’ era Space with the eeriness of ‘Earth VS the Flying Saucers’ / ‘They Live’ b-movie backdrops bleeding into the mix, too damn cool for its own good. ‘The Caged Ones’ kicks off with a tasty little spaghetti western aperitif before going all Pixies caught red-handed hoodwinking a copy of B-52’s ‘Planet Claire’. Leaving the best till last, the brooding menace of the dislocated ‘Sputnik Bride’, needling riffs, dragging doom laden chords navigate a cautiously grinding groove that’s pitted in shadows and oppression and just when your at your least aware it rears its potently tipped tail sting to render you paralysed, charmed I’m sure. www.brandviolet.com
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Brand Violet
"Sputnik Bride"
(Brand Violet)
Released: 12 April 2004
  
Sally-Anne Marsh sounds like the results of an experiment to distil the irresistibly seductive voice of Eartha Kitt with the irresistibly seductive voice of Debbie Harry. That makes her sound irresistibly seductive then, yet her contribution isn’t the most striking thing about ‘Sputnik Bride’. That honour is reserved for the wobbly 50’s space-rock that underpins it; it’s like listening to Space (in the five minutes that they were unmissable) rummaging through Joe Meek’s cupboard looking for the holy grail of unmistakeable sounds. If Space really had done this they’d be Top of The Pops. Their loss; Brand Violet have done it and I’m SO looking forward to seeing the look of confusion on the face of the tragically hip loser that has to present this lot to the nation when they make it, for make it they surely will. 
  
Suzie Q
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