The British Alternative Invasion continues here at Pop City Life with it’s latest installment: Shrewsbury trio Blame Bilston and their DIY home studio offering ‘Yesterday Again.’
Though Bilston is comprised of members in their late teens, they possess a musical sensibility and know-how that extends well beyond their years, and this aptitude is immediately apparent in the opening bars of ‘How I Can Be (Get Ya Please).’ Though not the most attractive of titles, what this track lacks in wordplay, it makes up for in raw, unfiltered aggression and voltage.
The Grunge influences are also instantly recognizable, it wouldn’t be a stretch by any means to count Blame Bilston among those responsible for the Neo-Grunge resurgence sweeping the UK. With bands like Alice in Chains and Soundgarden releasing new albums in the U.S. and outfits like The Dead Souls and Blame Bilston emerging in the UK, it would be safe to assume that this Grunge Renaissance is not merely a fad or fluke, but a legitimate contender primed to conquer the world stage yet again.
Vocalist Jamie Yorke radiates with a dark, melancholic hue that is tailor-made for this style – channeling Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain, Silverchair’s Daniel Johns, and even Type-O Negative’s Peter Steele – bringing the quintessential Grunge atmosphere to ‘Yesterday Again,’ giving it a certain authenticity that countless imitators of the genre have lacked.
Whether it’s by way of the home studio quality, by design, or both ‘Yesterday Again’ has an organic, earthy, garage quality, giving it an edge and attitude that is often lost with big budget recordings and studios. It’s unpolished and amateur in the best possible way, imparting the work as a whole with a presence and identity that surely would have been lost amid state-of-the-art equipment and production value.
While the majority of the album centers around growling vocals and deeply distorted guitars ‘Strange Girl’ is a welcome change of pace to the high-energy, high-decibel output of its predecessors – completely stripped down and exclusively acoustic – this track offers a rare glimpse into the the softer side of Blame Bilston without the wailing wall of sound to hide behind. Here, we find them at their most vulnerable, showcasing much needed versatility and proving that they are more than just a one-trick pony. ‘Strange Girl’ transitions nicely into the home stretch of the album (which ends on a much lighter note) with tracks like ‘Silly Little Black Bird’ and ‘Anorexic Love (Love Anorexic)’ rounding it out and marking the end of the Grunge-infused odyssey that is ‘Yesterday Again.’ If we as listeners are to Blame Bilston for anything, it would be for providing us with a listening experience that won’t soon be forgotten, and, if they are on the front line of this Grunge revival, the fate of the genre is in very capable hands indeed.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BlameBilston
Download ‘Yesterday Again’ for free here: http://blamebilston.bandcamp.com/album/yesterday-again
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