Blood Red Shoes

Blood Red Shoes play A L P H A B E T on Saturday 31 October, with special guests on the bill. It's a homecoming of sorts — the duo are from Brighton, and they're playing tracks from their self-titled debut album.

Steven Ansell and Laura-Mary Carter formed the band in late 2004 after their previous groups, Cat On Form and Lady Muck, split up and they decided to 'have a jam'. The name comes from a Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire musical in which Rogers turns a pair of white dancing shoes red with blood. They've released six full-length albums since then, from Box of Secrets in 2008 to Ghosts on Tape in 2022, and started their own label, Jazz Life, in 2014. Carter has designed the record sleeve for every release.

Their sound is raw, guitar-driven, and blends indie rock, post-punk and garage rock. They describe themselves as a punk band in ethos and attitude, and their influences list reads like a who's who of underground guitar music: Babes in Toyland, Nirvana, Queens of the Stone Age, Pixies, Fugazi and Sonic Youth, alongside British names like Blur and PJ Harvey. One of their songs, 'It's Getting Boring By The Sea', featured in Edgar Wright's Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.

The gig is at A L P H A B E T, 11 Dyke Rd, Brighton and Hove, BN1 3FE, starting at 7:00 PM.