Blitz Kids have, admittedly, taken ages getting ‘Vagrants and Vagabonds’ out there. Recorded about a year ago and changing form a few times on the way, it’s no Chinese Democracy, but it’s about time they got this highly anticipated debut out.
They are without doubt, one of brightest in the promising new breed of British rock bands. Leaping dynamic changes, technical instrumental work and a big mix of the heavy and melodic see the band continuing the progression from their last two EPs, and songs like ‘Photograph’ and ‘Story’ really see the band achieving what they’ve been threatening for a long time.
Sonically, ‘Vagrants and Vagabonds’ isn’t perfect, but being recorded in the space of 48 hours and in a “live” way tends to lend itself to that, and the imperfections make the record personal and interesting far beyond what many of their contemporaries have managed recently. Not needing to rely on studio polish to sound urgent and promising is a rare skill, but the band pull it off in style.
Next time around, despite their well voiced hate for mincing about in a studio with effects, it’d do the band no harm to take their time with a producer to really do the songs justice.