Having accidentally bought the single, Suspicious Character, by The Blood Arm, (I thought I was buying something by Blood Red Shoes but got the name wrong). My initial disappointment was replaced by that of intrigue.

Despite the obvious, pandering to the generic indie market with simplistically catchy lyrics, it introduced some unusual influences. Its fair to say the U.S outfit can be lazily linked to the New York sound of The Strokes or Hot Hot Heat but delve a little deeper and more weighty leanings toward Teardrop Explodes and Ben Folds can be unearthed, refreshing in these times of carbon copy acts peddling what evers flavour of the month.

The tracks, Accidental Soul and Stay Put, show off their obvious song writing skills and the lascivious rock and roll lyrical content is rescued by brilliantly lead piano riffs, giving them a much needed cultural lift. Whilst the track Visionaries, opened by  a distant reverbed electric guitar riff is reminiscent of The Walkmans, ‘What’s In It For Me’, by no means a bad thing.

It’s hard to see how The Blood Arm will be received in the long term. They could either become the biggest thing since sliced bread, or suffer from an increasing fashion departure from that once phenomenally popular New York Garage Punk sound that even The Strokes are struggling to promote these days. Time will tell….

8/10

James Heward