KITCHEN SINK RECORDINGS
As if in a sign of tempting fate, Big Blood has once again carried their inexhaustible streak to the final day of the year. Fight For Your Dinner Vol. II released in the waning hours of 2021, continuing a now 16-year streak of glorious, free, psychedelic weirdness. Whilst admittedly a collection of unused assets - apparent by its incongruous nature - Fight For Your Dinner still entices by showcasing Big Blood's wayward inquisitions and beatnik curiosity. I mean, where else could you find daring, antithetical, Avant-Folk covers of Amon Düül II, Prince, and The Pixies? Helmed by a voice of an angel shattering glass.
True to their career, Big Blood continue to reinvent expectations when it comes to song covers. 'Velouria' is perhaps the most impressive, stripping The Pixies of the Alternative Rock that defined them, drowning in the mire of romantic morose over languished piano keys. But in all three instances, Colleen Kinsella's vocals remain unmatched; quivering with ethereal rootlessness. Elsewhere, accentuating Fight For Your Dinner's desultory causes, are two excellent Caleb Mulkerin-fronted efforts; 'The Fox & The Rose' and 'My Daughter's Only Son.' This is your typical Big Blood, with crunchy guitars, twitchy acoustics, and campfire paeans. Beautiful and intrinsically-human. Unlike the band's next foray into primitive Electronics; 'Floating From Xanthi.' This freakish whirlwind of science fiction industry surpasses anything Big Blood exercised on the inferior Thunder Crutch. The soundscapes are engrossing and unexpected, enhanced by a myriad of disparate insertions swirling around like a tornado in a forgotten, Midwest township.
Bookending Fight For Your Dinner's consistent streak are the opener 'Half Light Blues' and the closer 'Rejected By Reno,' a riveting timberland dirge that beckons weary travelers to lose themselves in. But wait... you say there's another song that follows that heavenly crest? And it's archaic Minima Synth featuring ear-curdling autotune and rinky-dink lyrics about adolescent romantic infatuation? And that it doesn't sound entirely unlike Kanye West's 808's & Heartbreak era? Surely you're kidding? Reality couldn't be so cruel. But in fact, 'Shine Bright Like A Star' is endearing in its absurdity, as Quinnisa was just six at the time of its recording. As Big Blood stated: "she insisted that I make her sound like the robot she heard on the radio." How adorably-apt.
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