Single Review: Red Rum Club - Ballerino

It’s always exciting to hear new music from Red Rum Club. Their debut album Matador was one of the best releases of that year, and if the three tracks we’ve heard from their sophomore album The Hollow of Humdrum are anything to go by, we’ll be saying similar things about their next release. ‘Ballerino’ is the third single from the record, and again shows why the band are head and shoulders above their stylistic competition.

What made Matador such a unique and fascinating listen was its Spanish influences, with its use of horns giving its tracks a vibrant life and soul seldom heard in indie rock. It’s a sound the Liverpool-based sextet appear to have carried over to their second album, with ‘Ballerino’ opening with a bold and bright trumpet motif (courtesy of Joe Corby) that immediately gives it a fantastic energy that’s maintained throughout the track. When Corby’s trumpet is paired with Simon Hepworth’s excellent bass riffs, the track really comes alive.

Fran Doran’s excellent vocals feel bright and encouraging, and it’s clear that Red Rum Club simply want people to enjoy themselves. It’s safe to say that they’ve accomplished that goal, and then some; if the rest of The Hollow of Humdrum is as good as this, then we are in for something really special.

Words: Matt Taylor