The Blood Lines, The Blood Lines

by Beth Johnson
04/22/2008

Hailing from Canada, The Blood Lines have already had an impressive amount of success for a 2-year-old band. Their self-titled debut album won “Outstanding Rock Recording” at the 2007 Western Canadian Music Awards. They have toured from Canada to China and recently played at the South By Southwest music festival in Austin, Texas. They are currently working with famed producer Kevin Churko. Their sophomore is in the works to be released in 2008.

“Song of Salvation” starts The Blood Lines off with a kick. The combination of punchy lyrics and a catchy melody sets the steady-paced tone for the rest of the album to come. From there, the record weaves between energetic anthems and mellow ballads.

Female vocals laced through the background add a fresh dimension to the music. All of the band members contribute to the vocals, giving the record a pleasing mix of singing styles. In the track “On and On” the vocals are reminiscent of Ben Gibbard from Death Cab For Cutie. On “Modern Science” and “Stay Home,” the singer sounds more like Adam Gardner of Guster.

As for the instrumentals, they are far from showy. All of the elements come together into one cohesive element rather then direct focus toward any one particular instrument. One point of interest is the use of the keyboard in most of the songs, which has become atypical of modern bands. Overall, the album has the nice, pleasant feel of well-done pop-rock music.

By no means will The Blood Lines offer you a sound you have never heard before. That being said, they are good at what they do. It will leave you wondering what else Canada has to offer us.

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