Track of the Day: The Bloodstreams – Jackie (2023)
Gloom with a smile – this is the phrase glam-goth rock group The Bloodstreams take on as they make waves in the UK rock scene. It’s vampiric grittiness striking you with a blow leaving you lying on the floor but loving every damned second. Relatively new to the music scene, at least new to our ears, the UK-based foursome straddle post-punk and alternative rock in their psychedelic sweep of sound. Of course, this is merely a generalisation of labels, to understand The Bloodstreams you have to listen, no not listen…feel their intense melodies. The latest addition to their discography is the single ‘Jackie’.
Not ones to hide the grimy pain of humanity, The Bloodstreams find inspiration in the darkest of places. Taking on topics like mental health, societal pressures, angst, violence, rage and inner conflict, there’s a significant depth to the group. In ‘Jackie’, The Bloodstreams face inner demons with a hopeful, optimistic sense of empowerment in the theme. Created while recording their debut album How To Be A God, ‘Jackie was “born from a momentous news story and is about transmuting inner demons into unshakable empowerment…”
Following their debut album How To Be A God, ‘Jackie’ is, well I’m not sure how to describe it. Opening with a gentle piano atop beat-driven drumming, you are quickly lulled into a psychedelic haze of wistfulness – not a bad place to be. The thing is, just as you find a comfortable spot in the soundscape, a crescendo to a frenzied, distorted blossom of chaos pulls you up tossing you about the sonic whirlwind. Pounding drums match scorching guitars with an infectious piano looping about in the distance. Faster and faster, the pace picks up until you are wrapped in a break-taking swirl of hazy insanity.
Inspired by Velvet Underground, The Stranglers, Faith No More and the Beatles, ‘Jackie’ is a mesmerising splash of nostalgic pop mashed into psychedelic rock with post-punk sentiments. The melody can keep you captivated but the bold vocals are a bright red thread pulsating in the frantic tune. Vocalist Jasmine seems to hold ‘Jackie’ in the beginning playfully traipsing the tune; however, just as the pace quickens, the vocals appear to become lost in that whirl of sound while retaining a rich warmth.
Uninhibited, daring, and filled with nostalgia, The Bloodstreams take you on a mystical trip in the slightly scary but oddly vivacious single ‘Jackie’.
For more from The Bloodstreams, check out their Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Spotify.
This artist was discovered via Musosoup #sustainablecurator
