Bluebottle Kiss
Doubt Seeds

It's not difficult to understand why, at least in Italian, there's so little talk on the web about such a valid group like Bluebottle Kiss. The fact is that the Australian band, led by guitarist Jamie Hutchings, the author of all the songs as well as the vocalist, doesn't lend itself to being easily categorized or summarized into a specific genre, making it hard for the poor reviewer to provide an idea without having to bear the not always productive effort of a disorienting track by track. If I were forced, against my will, to categorize it, I would certainly say "indie rock," but this indication is so generic that it hardly helps to convey the richness, versatility, and surprising energy that the Australian group manages to express.

Their latest work "Doubt Seeds" not only confirms all the good they demonstrated with previous ones, particularly with "Revenge Is Slow", but marks a further, decisive step forward that, for my part, places them in the narrow circle of rock bands one can safely rely on.

From the very first track of the double(!) album, "Your Mirror Is Volture", you understand that the band's leader has a rich background, not just musical, and is someone who enjoys "grafts," contaminations: powerful and distorted guitars, producing a very evocative almost garage sound, echoes of the Stooges, measuring up against a sax in a free jazz vibe; a combination that brings another historical Australian band to mind: Died Pretty.

More pure energy in "Nova Scotia" which seems like a piece of early Springsteen, revised, however, by someone who has known punk and the fall of hopes. Still, just when you think you've roughly framed this substantial album, Hutchins and co. enjoy changing the scenario, starting anew the list of influences and nods. "Fire Engine" begins as a robust rock ballad then progresses, with a crescendo supported by a disorienting female choir, into feedback pushed to the point of noise-making; "Slight Return" is adrenaline-charged and edgy, with the sardonic smile of good old Frank Black appearing in the background. The first CD closes with a delicate and suave acoustic ballad, "Little Disappearer".

But, although the first part is at times exhilarating, it's in the second CD that they shoot their best cartridges. The opening of "Dream Audit" is nothing short of surprising, even for a work like this that certainly doesn't spare twists: a Coltrane-like sax dominates the first two minutes, then blends into free chaos from which a powerful post-rock song emerges that will certainly please Sonic Youth fans. There's not only jazz among the aftertastes; strong black aromas are also present, especially in this second part; and the finale of the most direct and compelling track "The Judas Hands", which somewhat recalls certain sulfurous and more lively songs of the illustrious compatriot Nick Cave, with sax and an almost gospel choir chasing each other, bears witness to it unequivocally. With "Speak Up Memory" the atmosphere becomes dark and melancholic: a female voice, that of the charming Sarah Blasko, duets with Jamie in a piece that Steve Kilbey (The Church, another Australian reference point for our guys) would have gladly signed.

As if that weren't enough, in the finale, they pull out of the hat a refined and soft pop song in true Costello style, "The Black Birds", which in the end ignites thanks to a guitar solo so intense as if it were played by "little dinosaurs."
It's known that many generally prefer reassuring certainties, fideistic beliefs, even in the musical field. Jamie Hutchings knows this, but he has decided to continue sowing the "seeds of doubt," convinced that there is ground to welcome them. In my part, you may have guessed, they have already taken root, putting down very solid roots in no time.