Coming out of the Devon area, The Blend are looking to launch an assault on rock’s mainstream with their most recent album, All Departures. The group have enjoyed a great deal of success and praise in their short amount of time in the sun with the band being given airtime on BBC Introducing and gaining praise from all the right places including Johnny Marr, Adrian Smith and Zak Starkley. Very high praise considering how much the band are compares to The Who. What is also worth noting is that the band are only aged between 16-18 so to be doing so well at such a young age is promising but does the music justify the attention?
Oh yes it does, especially on opening track Don’t Waste My Time. This track wastes absolutely no time in showing new listeners exactly what the band are all about. The comparison to The Who is very evident in the overall sound of the track with the keys and guitar giving a definite feeling towards that time. What is equally as evident though is the punk influence on the band, especially shown on this track as it has a very in your face aggressive style reminiscent of the early punk movement.
There is much of the same on the following track Cameron’s Motors where the 70’s sound is very evident again but there is a less frenetic sound. The strange screeching sound evident throughout the entire track is further evidence of the unique nature of this band in the modern music scene and you get the first feeling of the keys truly influencing the song here also. This songs repetitive nature is also a strength and will have crowds around the country singing along in riotous joy.
Mr and Mrs Womble then continues the 70’s punk styled sound with excellent guitar work before we are treated to an interesting prospect in the form of the instrumental title track. This track is seriously interesting and captivating as there is a brief in your face intro riff before a more trippy psychedelic sound comes into the music on the rest of a track that leaves the listener guessing at every turn and timing change. This is how to do instrumental music, let all of the instruments breathe and show off their talent all the while creating a brilliant song.
The album gets even more interesting towards the end of the album with a two part song called The Flavour. Part 1 is largely instrumental with 3 minutes of the song being used as nothing but a build up for the second part before a small flurry leads into the 6 minute long second part that shows off why people are tipping The Blend for success. This track has a much less aggressive feel to it as the focus comes more on the songwriting. When the song breaks down a little and acoustic guitars and keys become more prominent you realise that this is a band who are still so young in their songwriting development yet are writing truly excellent songs, giving you a sense hope for British rock music.
Overall, this is a very good album written by people who have time on their side to improve. The way they incorporate all kind of influences from The Who styled rock to punk and psychedelic into one unique sound shows true songwriting talent and everyone should be excited about what into come from this band.
8/10 – Good album, more to come in the future
Highlights – Don’t Waste My Time, All Departures