I Had The Blues But I Shook Them Loose

Bombay Bicycle Club

Release Date: 25th Aug, 2009
Label: Island
Genre: Indie

Winners of Channel 4’s ‘Road To V’ competition, this London four-piece have made a name for themselves after appearing at the V Festival four years ago, including bagging themselves an NME Best New Band award this year. Only now releasing their debut album (the band only left secondary school in 2008), they’ve certainly had time to hone their sound to a tee. From the opening instrumental prologue of ‘Emergency Contraception Blues’, the songs on offer are quirky, spiky indie-pop which will certainly garner the band a strong following. With upbeat melodies such as those on ‘Always Like This’, the rousing ‘Magnet’ and the dark and brooding ‘Autumn’, while this won’t propel the band to the top of the album charts, it’s a strong showing from such a young band.

Reviewed by Pete Muscutt

About The Artist

Bombay Bicycle Club

Artist Homepage

Bombay Bicycle Club are an indie rock band which formed in North London, United Kingdom in 2006. The Favourite Day Songfacts reports that they were formed by Jack Steadman (vocals, guitar, bass), Jamie MacColl (bass, guitar, banjo, vocals), Suren De Saram (drums) under the name of The Canals when they were 15. Ed Nash (bass, keyboard, mandolin) later joined the trio as they switched between various aliases before picking Bombay Bicycle Club. The band took their name from a chain of curry houses in the London Area, and have since admitted that they dislike their band name. The band has released three albums, "I Had the Blues But I Shook Them Loose" (2009), "Flaws" (2010) and "A Different Kind Of Fix" (2011). They are otherwise known as the band that opened V Festival 2006 (having won the 'Road to V' competition) & have also played Reading / Leeds Festival for the past three years, running. In Febuary 2007 they released their début EP The Boy I Used to Be, and this was followed up in October with the release of their second EP How We Are. In mid-July of 2009 they released their first album I Had The Blues But I Shook Them Loose consisting of 12 tracks. They are currently partaking in their biggest tour yet, including a sell-out date at London's Heaven venue. In Summer 2010 they released their new album, Flaws. A UK tour co-incided with the release of the album which - surprisingly - is an acoustic recording. Venues on the tour reflected this new acoustic orientation. St George's in Bristol, for example, is normally used by classical and folk artists. Songfacts reports that Shuffle, the lead single from their third album, A Different Kind Of Fix was released on June 23, 2011 and peaked at #64 on the UK Singles Chart.

View all

40 Comments

bronthide 25 Apr 2012

"way too underrated" what
drinkyourjuice 10 Apr 2012

The giantess is really good. I'm surprised it's least listened of the album.
Uzaygezer 15 Feb 2012

brilliant.
miiguelmonteiro 27 Jan 2012

O melhor deles.
dannfisher23 17 Oct 2011

Amazing at Southampton Last Night!
triangle_walks 23 Sep 2011

i am really confused by this album....?
keryazzz 24 Aug 2011

wonderful
orfanraz 11 May 2011

love
Appelsaefty 08 May 2011

´Way too underrated.
tommyhaych 08 Mar 2011

Can't stop listening to this. Maybe it's because Spring is just around the corner...
Rizelmine115 26 Oct 2010

isnt ghost the first song of the album?
adoymartin 21 Oct 2010

5 star for this album
Strokarlos 24 Sep 2010

I love it!!! :D
bongolibbe 16 Sep 2010

awesome album! really unique.
cichywladek 19 Aug 2010

love.
hdodonnell 27 Apr 2010

Such a brilliant album.
Witheredpieces 08 Apr 2010

great album!
LewisofEngland 08 Mar 2010

love! :D
ViNnYsTaR 02 Mar 2010

Great!!!
xkitteehx 26 Jan 2010

Fuck this album is so good. the songs, the mood, the title, the cover! I think I'll love it forever.
fedtodeath 21 Jan 2010

best morning music ever. also good music in general.
AndresMonster 23 Dec 2009

such a great album :)
thupham 21 Dec 2009

love
IMMAEATYOU 13 Dec 2009

Either this or Mumford & Son's album for dubet of 09.
JackTommy 08 Dec 2009

an album of the year for me
leoxen 25 Nov 2009

i heared the songs live. :) great
JakeBoz 24 Nov 2009

Best debut + best album of 2009? I think so.
PoulpeJaune 03 Sep 2009

waw
bkelleher 10 Aug 2009

impressive debut LP.
mdbgoblue 07 Aug 2009

absolutely in my top 5 for '09
mikeehokkaido21 22 Jul 2009

wow haha, why is everyone arguing about the case the album was killer! tho i do wish it had a case on the inside not just a folder :( lol nice album though ;)
mrko5 16 Jul 2009

Read my review of the new album! http://mrkmrkmrk.wordpress.com/
seabreeze17 12 Jul 2009

@ AntD, the 'crappy' paper case is far more environmentaly friendly. i was under the impression that that was more important than aesthetics.
AntD 08 Jul 2009

What is with the crappy paper case, I want a plastic case
pandepandu 07 Jul 2009

The Giantess is ANTHEM! :D