I really do love when the artwork for an album fits the musical contents perfectly. And so it is with Bridezilla’s debut album, The First Dance. Russian/American painter Alexei Antonov’s ‘Pamagranat’ graces the front of the album, with the band and album names in subtle gold embossing. The image is dark and moody yet simultaneously bursting with domestic contentment and pleasure and a certain degree of sensuality (in its truest sense, not its blandly sexualised connotations). It’s as apt a description of Bridezilla’s music as presented on this album as I can think of.
Bridezilla’s reputation has often rested on the age of its members. However, that novelty is beginning to wear (not least because they’re all actually grown up now!) and so it is important that they deliver music which can now stand on its own, outside any novelty factor. Lead single ‘Queen Of Hearts’ was an early indication that the band were capable of living up to the required standard. In the context of the album, it is a standout but still indicative of the overall quality. Starting with a fairly straight up chord structure, it starts to weave its spell once the first violin/sax drone beams across, then Holiday Sidewinder’s voice seals the deal. It builds to a chorus hook which is understated, but does its job of getting under the skin, all the more effective for its avoidance of histrionics. It’s pretty perfect pop, even coming in at just under 3 minutes.
It is actually that overall understatement which is the album’s greatest strength. A instrumental lineup of violin, sax, guitar, drums and voice is slightly idiosynchratic in the indie-pop field, but could also be prey to orchestral and/or gothic clichés, especially with a voice that can obviously soar. These never surface, however. Instead, things are left just below simmering, Sidewinder’s cooing remaining intimate and inviting. This is best seen on tracks such as ‘Tailback’, ‘Shipping Man’ and ‘Western Front’, but it is an effect built across the entire disc. Not until the final track, a pæan to the question of death on ‘The Last Dance’, do Daisy Tulley’s violin and Millie Hall’s saxophone stretch into more descriptive, filmic evocation, but it suits the track’s contents and is certainly not gratuitous.
The First Dance is evidence that Bridezilla have the ability to step in and fulfil the hype that has surrounded their growth. It is a consistent and strong work. It’s best qualities are those which show that the band doesn’t feel the need to be grandiose, but are confident in their own understated brooding.
Adrian Elmer
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