Sometimes you get that feeling of déjà vu. It is especially true of music. Cover versions, revivals, reunions, remixes, rereleases - putting songs into their correct temporal context gets to be challenging. It could be old age - or perhaps the demon drink - but this EP from Blitzhoney could have dropped out of a time machine from Glasgow in the eighties. Now that is not actually an insult as we are not talking the girlie sounds of Orange Juice or (heaven forbid!) the Bluebells. No, more like the darker, more malevolent sounds of Josef K or even James King & the Lonewolves.
"Killing Each Other" opens this EP and makes a good example of what we are talking about. Echoing guitars kick it off and lead singer Larry's half drawled vocals come across a bit like Ian McCulloch or even a sober Shane MacGowan. It is a piece of pure time travel. Nevertheless, good songs are good songs and this is actually rather melodic stuff. "We Won't Linger" sounds less derivative with a suitably catchy hook. The drawl returns in "Guernica" but this time in an altogether more passionate form and the closing track "Stranger in the Dark" maintains the quality level without showing us much more of this band's qualities.
Mean, moody and melodic describes these 4 songs and they make a promising start for this band. There is potential there without a doubt but, as yet, they do not appear to have found their own voice. This EP was produced by the band themselves but Bluesbunny saw them perform live recently and, funnily enough, they sounded notably more original than they do here.