Released: 31st May 2019
Rating: ★★★
The Bloms have music in their blood. Pip, brother Tender, mother Leonieke and father Erwin have all dabbled either onstage or behind the scenes. The Amsterdam natives are less Dr. Fünke’s 100% Natural Good-Time Family Band Solution and more two generations taking to the stage in their own way.
Pip Blom’s father Erwin has his own band, Eton Crop, with John Peel among their admirers in their day. Meanwhile Pip and brother Tender are starting to make their own name for themselves as one of the most exciting guitar bands of the moment.
This family affair culminated in a joint gig earlier this year, suggested by John Peel’s wife Sheila Ravenscroft, in which Erwin’s band supported Pip Blom (also the name of Pip’s band) at the John Peel Centre as part of Independent Venue Week. But this doesn’t mean that Blom is influenced by her dad; Eton Crop were rarely played around the house. Instead, Blom developed her own voice, bringing a promising debut in ‘Boat’.
With the help of Darek Mercks and Gini Cameron, Pip Blom have a real knack for building simple but infectious hooks. Cooler-than-cool, with an air of nonchalance rippling through the loose guitar riffs and Blom’s relaxed vocals, ‘Boat’ is rammed full of tracks that could soundtrack any indie party.
“Let’s stop messing about and get down to the nitty gritty” anthem, ‘Don’t Make It Difficult’, is an early highlight. As guitars hazily weave in and out of one another, Blom shouts to her prospective lover: “We both desire each other / don’t make it difficult”.
But once you’ve seen the Dutch foursome live, you can’t help but feel they’re holding something back on ‘Boat’. Cameron, in particular, is a force to be reckoned with when behind her drumkit, but here she never really takes off. Everything feels like it’s about to go off the rails but then pulls just short of doing so. With such a riotous power at their fingertips, it often feels like it’s not being used to its fullest.
It’s clear, however, that Pip Blom are set for a bright future. They’ve already nailed that live energy and the chemistry that drives them forward on stage fizzes through ‘Boat’ and is just as intoxicating. The back-and-forths. The freewheeling guitars. It all adds up to some fuzzy-pop goodness that’s as much a blast to listen to as it probably was to make.
Chris Taylor
