Bad Blood Recovery – Perfidious

Oxford has produced many things, its the setting to Inspector Morse, its part of the golden triangle of elite universities which also includes Cambridge and London and during the English Civil War Charles I made it his de facto capital after being expelled from London.

On a musical front, its given us fantastic bands such as Shoegaze legends Ride and Swervedriver as well as Twee Poppers Talulah Gosh. There’s also annoying Britpop cheeky chappies Supergrass and critically acclaimed yet vastly overrated experimental Rock crew Radiohead. You can now add to that list Bad Blood Recovery, who are Sean Parkin – Vocals, Chris Monger – Guitars, Lee Riely – Guitar Drone, Stuart Smith – Bass and Alex Lane on Drums/Percussion. A lot of the songs here were recorded just after lockdown at the since closed Shonk Studios (hence the name The Shonk Sessions) and feature a slightly different line-up with Dave Cranwell on Bass, Jimmy Hetherington – Guitars and Guitarist Ed Gane. Having listened to and enjoyed the singles the band had put out, I was chomping at the bit to cover this, so here we are…

‘Perfidious’ recalls the self-described ‘low rock’ of Morphine, and as with that band there’s a Bluesy languid feel present, all that’s missing is the Saxophone. It also seems to share DNA with bands such as Gallon Drunk and tenebrous LIAR, not bad company to keep that’s for sure. An excellent start to the record. Next up is a remix of ‘Perfidious’ by fellow Oxfordians Tiger Mendoza which manages to maintain the essence of the track but with an Industrial/Electro twist which takes you back to the 1990s when that kind of thing was commonplace. Picture the job Moby did with his version of Metallica’s ‘Until it Sleeps’, its that level of greatness. ‘Wolf Fleece’ is an exercise in butt kicking Stoner Rock ala Fu Manchu and Nebula with maybe a little Rollins Band from around the time of Get Some Go Again and Nice. I doubt Sean will be sporting a pair of gym shorts when performing this live, though maybe if you pay him enough he could be persuaded.

‘Out of Phase’ is considerably less immediate than that of its predecessors and adopts more of an apocalyptic Neurosis tribal Post-Metal sensibility in places if fronted by Jello Biafra. Other moments adopt a Hard Rock and boogie flavour in the vein of Clutch (admittedly a band I’ve always struggled with) with some really lovely shades of Psych thrown in along the way. An intriguing number that despite its disparate elements oddly works very well. ‘Sweet Taste’ at nearly 10 minutes is the EP’s longest track and is a slow burning Blues jam, but not of the snoozeworthy Mark Knopfler and Eric Clapton variety. Imagine Howling Wolf fronting Surgery, soulful, vital and lacking any kind of self-indulgence. ‘Graphite Sky (Shonk Session V1)’ is reminiscent of The Stooges slow-burn punk-blues on tracks such as ‘Dirt’ with Parkin’s Vocals especially recalling Iggy Pop’s gravelly, low-frequency baritone crooning. Truly epic and exceptionally well performed, a definite personal favourite of yours truly. ‘Graphite Sky (Shonk Session V2)’ – is a Bandcamp only track and is not overtly different to V1 though the Guitars sound a little crispier and drone laden (think Earth’s later work), at least to my non-musician ears, bringing a sense of finality to Perfidious.

Despite being labelled an EP, at 55 minutes long you’re definitely getting your money’s worth once you pick up a copy, and you will be doing just that by hook or by crook, capeesh? Seriously though, its well worthy of your time and investment.