Blood Running
Self-Released, 2023
8/10
The singer-songwriter and guitarist Elizabeth Ghandour has a penchant for punk tinted Femme Rock, and these 10 anthems unfold with an ebullient, powerful demeanor that challenges the patriarchal view that still lingers to this day.
“Reputation” opens the listen with Joe Scarpellino’s lively bass and Will Flynn’s thumping drums in the gritty, buzzing rocker that showcases Ghandour’s adaptable voice, and the funky “Waste Of My Time” follows with Jason Shannon’s fluid guitar playing suiting the diverse singing.
The middle track, “Beautiful Girl”, welcomes Jeff Hile’s lively sax to the rhythmic musicianship and upfront lyrics, while “Break Me” places Drew Stamps on drums for the calm versus busy bouts of cathartic song craft.
“Good Girl” and “Up All Night” exit the listen, where the former is highly melodic, soulful even, and Ghandour’s voice is quite lovely, and the latter exits with a firm, swirling, frenzied display of intense yet harmonic songwriting that will always be relevant.
Elour resides in Minneapolis, which has never been short on important and aggressive rock’n’roll, and Blood Running could certainly be played alongside albums by Zuzu’s Petals, Kitten Forever or Babes In Toyland.
Travels well with: Jillian Rae- I Can’t Be The One You Want Me To Be; Tegan And Sara- Hey, I’m Just Like You