Blue On Blue

According to Simon Reynolds, music critic extraordinaire, “every decade has its retro twin”. Admittedly he was referring to the 1980s revival that the music industry has been in thrall to for the past 10 years, but right on cue as we began another decade the alternative music of the early '90s stepped in to provide inspiration for a new generation of bands. And what says early '90s-alt-subgenre more than shoegaze? Brilliant bands like Pale Saints, Lush and Slowdive, who were until recently in danger of becoming a footnote in music history, are now regularly being cited by emerging bands as key influences.

Leading the shoegaze revival in east London is trio Blue On Blue. The group began as a side project for lead singer/bassist Dee Sada when she was still with her old band, An Experiment On A Bird In The Air Pump. Joined by guitarist and second vocalist Billy Trivial and drummer Samir Eskanda, Blue on Blue have played support slots for Vivian Girls and dream-pop legends The Telescopes. Not bad for a band that only got together at the beginning of the year.

The group’s tracks have a dreamy, stripped down quality, with rolling Peter Hook-esque baselines and boy/girl vocals reminiscent of Young Marble Giants. In keeping with the '90s revival, Blue On Blue have a fan in the form of The Charlatans frontman Tim Burgess who has recently recorded two of their tracks, ‘Cinnamon Swirl’ and ‘Come Down Girl’. In the mean time check out the lovely ‘Summer Daze’, which we reckon sounds like Hope Sandoval covering ‘Disintegration’-era The Cure.