Band:	Blues Pills
Album:	Birthday
Style:	Psychedelic hard rock, Blues rock
Release date:	August 2024
A review by:	AndyMetalFreak

01. Birthday
02. Don't You Love it
03. Bad Choices
04. Top Of The Sky
05. Like A Drug
06. Piggyback Ride
07. Holding Me Back
08. Somebody Better
09. Shadows
10. I Don't Wanna Get Back On That Horse Again
11. What Has This Life Done To You

Let's take a dose of Blues Pills and see if this Birthday will be one to remember.

Calling Blues Pills a unique band would definitely be an understatement. Established in Sweden in 2011 by Elin Larsson (vocals) and Zack Anderson (guitars), the band have an intriguing style that blends a variety of genres, from blues and soul to 70s psychedelic and traditional hard rock, while incorporating the weird and wonderful sounds of 60s psychedelia. Although still remaining a relatively underground act, the band have released 4 full-length albums, including the latest offering Birthday; what does this latest release offer?

Interestingly, all 11 featured tracks are no longer than 4 minutes in length, but with that no two songs sound the same, meaning once again, there's a very wide variety of styles and influences to be heard throughout this album, as was the case with the band's previous releases. It starts off with a nice and jolly opening title track, which is led by an ultra-groovy rhythm section courtesy of Kristoffer Schander (bass) and André Kvarnström (drums), accompanied by catchy, bluesy, hard rock guitar leads, and Elin Larsson's trademark soulful singing at the centre of it all. This is a fun, light-hearted, and funky opener that really sets the ball rolling, and "Don't You Love It" continues this vibe with a dash of 70s psychedelic rock, a touch of the blues, and even a taste of 70s soul.

So up to now there's certainly enough groove to get you up swinging and swaying your ass off, which, if you are an easy light-hearted listener that's a fan of the swinging 60s and 70s, would sound like a lot of fun, I presume. However, this might just be the tipping point at which most traditional metalheads would easily be put off, so do be warned before you decide to continue. Next is "Bad Choices" (or maybe not so, depending on if you feel you made the right choice to continue or not), which again combines classic blues and traditional hard rock (especially worth highlighting the trademark blues guitar leads) with a touch of soul, with 60s psychedelia also thrown in.

There's certainly moments worth highlighting from here on in, from the heavy groovy bass lines, striking psychedelic guitar distortion and trippy 60s keyboard effects of "Like A Drug", to the hooky, classic hard rock riff and sci-fi keyboard sounds of the short "Piggyback Ride", but the biggest surprise for me personally is the song "I Don't Wanna Get Back On That Horse Again". This track includes a heavenly angelic choir behind soft bluesy instrumentation, which feels somewhat inspired by the classic Bob Dylan song "Knocking On Heaven's Door", if you ask me. Now let's address the most powerful element of all featured here, and that's of course the vocals. The passionate, soulful voice of Elin Larsson is the absolute centrepiece behind Birthday; "Somebody Better", for instance, is a prime demonstration of just how powerful her vocal performance really can be. With that, there's not a lot else that really catches my attention; there's a few classic bluesy solos, but they're too often short-lived, and although there's no shortage of groove, there are not many moments that really stick with me.

Although I wouldn't necessarily say the songwriting is all over place, I'm often left wondering where it'll take me next; there's definitely no shortage of ideas or inspiration, as the band constantly merges its broad range of genres, but at the same time they do try to stay true to their own style, keeping things as fresh and original as possible. This all works for Birthday, to a degree; it's an ambitiously unique effort overall, but in terms of trying to keep up with modern standards it fails in some aspects. The production isn't as good as I think it could've been; the vocals obviously play an important role, but they're pushed too far in front of the other elements for my liking, and I feel many will simply pass this album by as a band that have tried to keep the golden age of rock (60s-70s) alive and well, but have never quite lived up to their ambitious, highly praised self-titled debut.