Cut Off Your Hands - Blue on Blue (EP)

Blue on Blue is the second EP release from New Zealand’s Cut Off Your Hands, the follow up to their debut Shaky Hands. It’s also the first release by the first band signed to Levi jeans’ newly formed record label Levity. It can be found with two different versions of artwork – a (predictable) blue version, on which the words ‘cut off your hands’ are punched out in Braille, and a red version featuring ‘blue on blue’ inscribed in the same manner.

To record this massive four-track EP, the band went all the way to London where they worked with Bernard Butler. Since their first EP was self-produced and recorded in their drummer’s lounge room, you might be expecting a different sound or maybe even a move towards a different style as dictated by the input of Mr. Butler, a.k.a. an impartial third party, but the band have managed to keep their sound pretty much exactly the same.

Opening track ‘Still Fond’ hits you with that familiar Cut Off Your Hands sound right from the start, with fast paced guitars and drum beats. While songs off the band’s first EP such as ‘You and I’ expressed anger and resentment towards a certain person, the theme of this EP seems to be about the exact opposite, with songs such as this one and ‘Oh Girl’. In ‘Still Fond’, lead singer Nick Johnston proclaims “Oh girl, you need to know, even though it may not show, but I’m still fond of you,” while ‘Oh Girl’ features lines such as “All I want’s to be next to you, so tell me babe what time’s best for you.”

‘Oh Girl’, the second track on the EP, is old style pop song meets new style rock. The intermittent sounds of glockenspiel notes take the edge off the band’s usual edgy style. Coupled with the song’s simple lyrics it’s reminiscent of classic old pop songs such as ‘Hey Mickey’.

Closing track ‘On Blue’ harks back to a time long, long ago when I was listening to tracks one and two. Four songs is not a lot of space in which to express yourself and capture an audience, so you’ve got to choose them carefully. The tracks on this EP sound very alike, with the melodies and lyrics almost being interchangeable. Only track three, ‘Closed Eyes’, shows a slower, more emotional side to the band, though it’s still filled with heavy guitars and punctuated by anguished screams.

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