Feted as Ones To Watch back in 2016, Pip Blom have taken the long way round with Boat.
The band are named after their lead singer and songwriter, who during her teens answered an advertisement for a songwriting competition in her native Netherlands that set her creative juices flowing. Despite only reaching the semi-final, her future was decided whilst writing numbers on a Loog guitar. Ploughing on, Blom self-released songs on the Internet having recorded all parts herself, and attention started to come her way.
Requiring a band, she enlisted her brother Tender (round of applause for the Blom parents please) on guitar, Darek Marcks on bass and Gini Cameron on drums to embark on live performances. A handful of singles were unleashed before Heavenly Records beat what was no doubt a clutch of labels to the punch by signing the band late last year.
It may appear that releasing the debut album a few short months later would mean a rushed one to capitalise on the hype (numerous festival appearances including Glastonbury await this summer), yet Blom has crafted these songs from scratch and has been perfecting them over the last few years. A DIY act in its truest sense, the effort shows.
There is real craft and attention to detail here. Every song has a well thought through arrangement and structure but, inevitably down to their circumstances, they are slightly held back by the limited instrumental options available, though exposure after a few listens reveals that the melody is key.
Not that there is anything wrong with the instrumentation; wonderful things can and often are achieved on guitar, bass and drums, and the range of options are on display here; the stinging guitar on Daddy Issues complement the naggingly infectious chorus, which like much of the album manages to retain the rawness of Pip Blom’s early demos. Elsewhere, the throbbing bass on Aha nearly blows out the earphones, and clattering cymbals are expertly deployed on several occasions to herald another splendid chorus.
Yet, as well as melody, one suspects the intention is to create atmosphere. Blom’s voice, while not having the greatest range, expertly conveys the emotion pertinent to the song. Say It sounds like The Strokes but she has such anxiety and desperation in her voice that the subject matter is apparent. On Set Of Stairs she’s assertive, and on Ruby, one of two album highlights, she’s having fun with the verse which fits in with the wonderful pop and, once again, an insanely catchy chorus. Her lo-fi distorted vocals too work well in parallel to the inflating bass on Tinfoil, but both add to the atmosphere of a march to a hangman’s noose. Finally, on The Lemonheads inspired Bedhead, she’s gone for a double tracked vocal, beautifully slovenly in the way that only love can make.
Blom’s lyrics are able to convey everyday anxiety beautifully (‘Tell me what you’re feeling, cos I can’t read your mind’) as well painful honesty, specifically on the wonky 60s garage of Say It (‘I think I’m hard to please’) suggesting there’s a bright future ahead.
But that’s for another day; on Boat we’re lucky enough to hear the fruits of her labour to-date, and that will do just fine.