Fearless Vampire Killers - The Blood Never Dries

  by Adrian Huggins

published: 13 / 9 / 2011

---

Review

‘The Blood Never Dries’ is the slick second offering of London based “Death pop” band Fearless Vampire Killers. Listening to the very cleanly produced, sweet sounding record, I’m not totally sure where the “death” in “death pop” comes into it, other than in their make-up and name. In sounding like the bastard sons of My Chemical Romance and Panic at the Disco with their sound, they do make themselves easy targets to harsh critics, especially as they have made claims that their music consists of “melodic breakdowns and raw over driven grind. “ There is nothing at all raw about this band. If they had have come out in 1955 they might have seemed a little less tame. After reading about FVK, I was expecting more of a Cramps/Misfits sound, but was met instead with the type of safe-sounding music that is currently being passsed off as ‘alternative’. I can not, however, knock their playing ability. They sound tight as a gnat’s chuff, and especially so for a band only releasing their second EP. Packed full of soaring vocals, cheeky guitar solos that are intricate yet tastefully used and rumbling drums, they do have a great sound for a rock band . With a sound like theirs, I could see them playing in big venues before too long. They also have their own identity and this covers the music, their style, the whole imagery that comes with it, and also the fact that there is an ‘e-book’ that comes free with this release courtesy of lead vocalist Laurence Beveridge. I love this stuff and, while I am a little apprehensive about how clean this all sounds, I absolutely dig the fact that this band are really trying to craft an identity throughout their music that goes far beyond the normal –“here’s our CD, please come to our gig, “oh this ones about some girl etc,” “please buy a t-shirt.” It is a breath of fresh air to find a band that is doing such things. As they describe it, “Praise, criticism, love and loathing are all welcome.” While they are a little too clean cut for this reviewer, I absolutely take my hat off to the band with their willingness to put it out there. It is like they’re putting their own heads on the guillotine while winking at you and staring at you daring you to look away. Good dark fun.

Track Listing:-

1 A Study In Dystopia
2 Bleed Till Sunrise
3 Concede, Repent, Destroy
4 Fetish For The Finite