Best of Bloodboy - EP

Bloodboy's debut EP, Best of Bloodboy, is a great start for the artist born Lexie Papilion. The former pro surfer and competitive opera singer shines a decidedly different light on this collection, six songs of inspired post-punk and electro-rock. Channeling influences like David Bowie and Debbie Harry, Bloodboy most often recalls contemporaries like Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Karen O, Santigold, and Juliette Lewis. With a rawness and confessional quality to her songs, she manages to create vignettes that inspire a physical response and an emotional hit. From the glittering post-punk wanderings of "F**k Yourself" to the elastic groove of "Mom, I've Changed," Best of Bloodboy is the soundtrack to downtown alleyway wanderings in the most stylish of threads. "Keep Your Disease" is an energetic high point unlike the rest of the release: propulsive and rocking, Bloodboy bursts into the same sonic space as Annie Clark, Dragonette, Santigold, and Karen O, demanding to be heard. Elsewhere, "Drunk You" and "Hey Kid" provide wounded honesty, both lush and expansive in their emotion and production. "Human Female" closes Best of Bloodboy with strength that hints at more to come. Listeners will interpret its message as they like, but one thing is clear: Bloodboy is poised for icon status with such material. ~ Neil Z. Yeung, Rovi