Posted on: April 17, 2009 Posted by: anfnewsacct Comments: 0

The Bloody Hollies come through on “If Footmen Tire You…” with a loud, obnoxious brand of rock that takes more than its fair share of influence from the rockabilly style. Tracks are fleeting and really do not allow enough time for individuals to become tired; this style of looking-back rock works better when the band isn’t self-absorbed (think The White Stripes) or just suckling at the teet of predecessor bands (Jet).

The style of rock that The Bloody Hollies plays does change slightly throughout the entirety of “If Footmen Tire You”; a track like “Burning Heart” takes up the cause of gothabilly more than anything previously, and really gives a great template for bands like Tiger Army to work with (and ensure that following albums do not suffer from the repetition that sank albums like Ghost Tigers Rise. “Gasoline” is a textbook case on how to use repetition to a band’s advantage; by hitting listeners over their head with a simple, effect guitar track (but not for too long), bands like The Bloody Hollies can make yet another step to success. The tracks on the disc do tend to have a high amount of similarity between them; this means that individuals may have to take a few minutes off to recharge their batteries, but this over-compensation of cohesion is better than the opposite vice (not having much cohesion at all). “Mind Control” is perhaps the closest that The Bloody Hollies get to a radio track; the guitar on the track is the perfect backdrop to the seventies-sounding vocals that dominate this track.

Incorporating a solid guitar line into the mix (but not allowing it to stand out too much), The Bloody Hollies rock hard until the track ends. While the disc comes through with a solid production, capturing a band that has a live, energetic sound, there still seems to be something holding back The Bloody Hollies from an unqualified success. The crunchy guitars present on “Raised By Wolves” show a band that started out the disc fresh, but really fall into a rut by the ending tracks. While they do have some interesting, diverse constructs toward the beginning of the disc, the later section of “If Footmen Tire You” tends to err much too often on similar arrangements. “If Footmen Tire You” is a solid album, but really needs to incorporate something more in the way of experimentation during the last legs of its runtime.

Top Tracks: Watch Your Head, Burning Heart

Rating: 4.9/10

The Bloody Hollies – If Footmen Tire You… / 2005 Alive Records / 11 Tracks / http://www.bloodyhollies.com / http://www.alive-totalenergy.com / Reviewed 23 September 2005

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