Hailing from London, emo power pop trio Sad Blood have produced the ultimate ride-along record of 2016. After the release of 2015’s ‘Ultimate Worrier,’ fans of Into It. Over It., Sunny Day Real Estate and Prawn will have a field day with the lush emotive sound of ‘Legion of Gloom.’
Opening track ‘Heavy Petting Zoo’ floats through the speakers as lead singer, guitarist, and songwriter George Phillips dazzles with lyrics of a relationship gone awry, with lines like “I’m married to misery for eternity” and “you were everything and nothing.” Aside from the inherent despondency, the jangly guitars and infectious melodies give a sense of optimism to the trio’s sound. ‘Formerly Creative’ and ‘Audibly Bored’ are so similar in structure that it sounds as if the tracks could merge into a four-minute-plus escapade of self-depreciating puns and innuendos.‘Ten More Years’ is carelessly lazy in all the right ways as Krys Bascombe and Daniel Goldberg motor the melody right along, while Phillips voice careens around it creating a sweet mixture of indie pop.
By far the most accomplished track on the EP, ‘The Worriers’ stands atop the trios discography as the heaviest track to date. The stop-start dynamic of Phillips exploding guitars and vocals mixed between the bouncing bass line of Bascombe will become anyone’s sunny day anthem. Plus, it will be almost impossible for you not to sing the lines “New York, New York” out loud or in your head.
Despite the sorrow filled subject matter, Sad Blood are able to create a sound that is as much sad as it is joyful. Toiling over issues of intimacy, mental stability, and overall happiness, Sad Blood captures the murky depths of human thinking in its own convoluted way, that is all at once understandable. Phillips, Bascombe, and Goldsberg have created a niche for themselves in the overcrowded indie scene, leaving listeners “happy and sad all at the same time.”
TYLER GREEN