CD REVIEW: THE FUMES – Bloodless

CD REVIEW: THE FUMES – Bloodless
ABC Music/Universal
February 2016
Reviewed by Shane Pinnegar
7/10

A dirty, growling three-piece dark blues outfit, The Fumes finally deliver their third album, recorded over the last two years in fits and spurts,

Stylistically calling it blues rock is too limiting: Bloodless boats elements of blue collar rock (Silverstar), Dead Kennedys-like punkish garage fury (Why), searing slide guitar (Jazz), outlaw biker gang denim mayhem (Eat This Sucker And Ride), semi-acoustic punky rock (Over The River), Bad Seeds-meets-Cruel Sea rock bottom blues (Lonely As You Are),

Whilst the title track even boasts a gorgeously melodic keyboard line over a melancholy Dylanesque/Springsteenish lament. Mainman (and last man standing from earlier incarnations of The Fumes) Stephen Merry is in his element here, having crafted a song that tugs on the heart, whilst its melody hooks you deeply.

Merry’s diversity here may throw some listeners off – there’s not a strong individual identity running through Bloodless – but more fool them: this is a collection of top quality rockers and rollers that aren’t bound by anything so banal as one dimension.

Category: CD Reviews