Big Blood crept up on me a couple of weeks ago with a sound that is little short of chilling. The track Coming Home Pt III, from last year's Dark Country Magic, is slow, sparse, morose folk that is more than just a touch unnerving. The unpretentious arrangement is deep, smouldering, intense, but it is the vocal of singer Colleen Kinsella that is most striking. Entering the piece after a gentle, brooding instrumental intro, her voice wails out in a way that somehow seems as piercing as it is plaintive.
The Big Blood duo of Kinsella and partner Caleb Mulkerin rose from the ashes of long-term Maine art rock project Cerberus Shoal. They have been releasing albums in profusion for some time now, many of them CD-Rs, and the description of their music by one critic as a mixture of The Residents and Amon Duul II is probably as good a definition as you will find.
Cover versions by the band reveal an interest in Can and stray oddities put out on the Sublime Frequencies label. In an interview with Foxy Digitalis about three years ago, the pair talked about their influences. Caleb's obscure, cerebral choices pointed to the likelihood that he is the brains of the operation. But Kinsella's choices - more mainstream, more obviously accessible, hint that she might be the heart, with that understanding of melody and of the hook that she has.
She said: "The music that fueled me growing up was Public Enemy’s “Nation of Millions”, Sinead O'Connor’s “Lion and the Cobra”, Pixies’ “Bossonova and Surferosa”, Jane’s Addiction’s “Nothing's Shocking”, all Early Cure records especially the B-sides of “Standing on the Beach”, Clash, Dead Milkmen’s “Big Lizard In My Backyard”, Prince’s “Purple Rain” and “1999”. Most of the music I listened to came from boyfriends/ friends who were skaters but in high school I got a job in a record store and my tastes exploded. Everyone who worked there influenced my tastes, from Ministry to Jimi Hendrix to Brand Nubian, Pink Floyd, Daniel Lanois to Cannibal Corpse. That's when I started to go to local hardcore and metal shows."
Dark Country Magic, which only came out about a month ago, has already gathered attention on the blogosphere. But their sound is so patently thrilling that it seems strange that there has not been more interest from the big-name critics. They tour this year in Europe, and will possibly release another effortless slew of new records - so perhaps this will be their year.
But in addition to their talent for songcraft, the duo also appear to be more than generous about letting people hear their material. To access it for free, click on their site HERE or on an authorised batch of their recordings HERE
On top of that, here are a couple of quite wonderful songs by the group.
