The Blood Group
Volunteers
In a world of violent rap and lascivious teen-tunes, there’s got to be room for the subtleties of decadence, the feel of sex and corruption without obvious bangs, crackles and pops. The Blood Group breaks the mold with cinematic-soundscape pop that radiates the eerie electro-kitsch of St. Etienne and harmonium-noir of Nico for a sound more dire than dangerous.
Thick programmed pulses stammer and wheezy Mellotrons and whistling organs blow heavy and cold through the tenuous melodies of “Perpetual Darkness Augogo,” distorted “Lately I’ve Had a Hard Time” and arch, ambient “King of France.” But what makes Blood Group pulpier is the whispered Beat-tone poems of the waifish Miss Jessica B, whose drug-struck prose wobbles, but doesn’t fall down under the cool, crumbling music.