Bliss Release

Bliss Release - Cloud Control (CD)

So, some weeks after being introduced to this young Australian band by a fine Balcony TV session, the postman brings a CD from the estimable Red Eye Records of Sydney...and, 'why do you keep playing that?" says Poll. Because it's definitely getting under my skin.

My first impressions of the band - from BTV and an earlier EP I downloaded - were of 60s California-style harmonies (think Mamas & Papas and Jefferson Airplane Takes Off) coupled with a distinctive bounce to the sound and an attractive quirkiness in the lyrics. All of that is confirmed by the album, but with the added dimension of some crunchy psychedelic guitar and a beefiness that balances their fey side. ('Make my head a pool of water' wouldn't be everyone's choice for an opening line for their debut album, but they carry it off, and I think I can see what they're getting at...)

What else to tell you? Four piece - guitar, bass, drums, keyboards - with intertwining voices which fit together very comfortably, without anyone individually being particularly extraordinary. Always interesting  arrangements. I assume a brother/sister combination in Heidi and Ulrich Leuffer, given a definite facial similarity in the pictures. Meditation Song 2 is just out here in the UK as a single, with the album apparently due to follow in the spring. But it's nice to get ahead of the game.

A final bit of serendipity for trivia fans - my last purchase from Red Eye, on holiday in Sydney 4 or 5 years ago, was an original Australian release of the Airplane's Crown of Creation, with an odd ridge around the edge and an irresistible warning on the back to 'BEWARE THE BLUNTED STYLUS!'...