The BlueHearts: Press

The Blue Hearts is the band that their home town of Brighton can be proud of, instead of averting its eyes from the electronic histrionics of Mr. Slim, it can now glory in the rich, velvety tales offered up by Dark Side Of Town. Although I've never been to Brighton, I find it hard to believe that its genteel reputation conceals the seamier side of life, so brilliantly and vividly portrayed here by The Blue Hearts. But from wherever the tales have sprung, they are intriguing and wonderfully atmospheric. The band is fronted by singer Bob Powell, a man with voice so rich, textured and laced with menace that a simple hello must seem like a portent of doom. Given that on Dark Side Of Town all the hearts are broken and the flowers wilted, comparisons with Cave and Cohen are understandable, valid and not at all over-flattering, The Blue Hearts reach the same depths as their illustrious fellow-travellers. But the growing suspicion is that there is a collective twinkle in the eye of the band, paradoxically it is first hinted at on Downhearted, surely nothing can be as bad or bleak as this song suggests. The smell of irony wafts through. Dark Side Of Town is built on the raw talent of its creators rather than clever construction. It is a back to basics album that revels in the absence of slick production. Mother Of Faith is a country song with a substantial amount of flesh on its bones, its both dark and solid. Neither The Blue Hearts nor Dark Side Of Town slot easily into any recognised pigeonhole. It hovers somewhere between gothic country and rock but what it does have is an irrepressible spark that keeps you listening and listening

The Blue Hearts: Straight Out Of Gotham! 14 August 2005
If ever popular music is to be remembered as a melting-pot of non-specific styles and defining purposes - then the tag would surely be made in the name of The Blue Hearts.



The Blue Hearts - Dark Side Of Town

The band may, reportedly, live within a stones throw of Nick Cave's abode and cite Leonard Cohen as a kin-like lyrical soul brother, but they needn't name-drop - as The Blue Hearts sit proud in a genre-pool all of their own.

From skip along melody-soaked opener, 'In The Shadow 0f Love', to waltz-time closer, 'Tongue Tied', this Brighton-based seven piece's forthcoming album, 'Dark Side Of Town', is a welcome addition to the ever growing list of potential albums-of-the-year.

Each of the ten tracks that make 'Dark Side Of Town' such a joy to take in one complete sitting, are packed full of twisted tales of dark Bad Seeds-like misfits and outsiders.

The Blue Hearts having been releasing music since 1993. In fact, two of their members featured in the original line-up of Brighton's most famous collective, The Piranhas. There's a feeling that with 'Dark Side Of Town' their time in the spotlight may have come now, rather than never.

If you liked Nick Cave's Lyre of Orpheus or have any affinity towards alt-country bands

like Willard Grant Conspiracy then chances are you will be seriously taken with The Blue Hearts'

blend of beautifully crafted country-blues story-telling. Simply a great set of songs set to take you to great places

To give you a measure of its diversity, it wouldn't be too strong to say that if every musician in the world making any music other than alternative country died tomorrow, rock music would suddenly be in its healthiest state for years.

Brighton's The Blue Hearts' third release, Dark Side Of Town brings us ten tales of broken spirits and bleeding souls drowning themselves at the bottom of a grubby whisky glass. We always thought Brighton was quite a lively place but with the crown prince of darkness, Nick Cave, living just round the corner, there seems to be some kind of vortex of bleakness just off the Weston Road.

And it's with Mr Cave's sombre supine psycho-billy that The Blue Hearts find their spiritual home. That's not to say that there isn't the occasional bow to Brighton's other best known band, The Levellers but then again no more than those other frenetic fiddlers, The Waterboys (the surprisingly uptempo Mother of the Faith). However it's when The Blue Hearts stray into the cracked alt.country territory of Seattle's The Walkabouts with frontman Bob Powell pulling his best Cave phrasings: Downhearted (I could swear, I could holler, I can bet my bottom dollar) or Strange Fruit Tree with its eerily gentle backing vocals that the album works best rather than the more straightforward Elvis-country of the title track

Great Pop Hooks - a debut that will make you want to see them play live

A sparky and stylish slice of UK country-rock, full of urgency and passion

A great British sound, laid back and musically excellent: