Cerulean Veins – Blue (Album – Cold Transmission Music)
Genre/Influences: Cold-Wave, Rock-Wave.
Format: Digital, CD, Cassette.
Background/Info: Cerulean Veins is an American duo set up by married couple Dustin Frelich and Amanda Ashley Toombs. They’ve been active since 2013 and have released an impressive number of singles. “Blue” is the band’s third album, which was originally released in 2020 on cassette format by Reclusion Records. Cold Transmission Music has now released the album as a CD.
Content: I never heard of this band before “Blue”. The work is merging different 80s related influences; from Cold-Wave reminding Joy Division for the guitar and The Skeletal Family for the energetic drums to Post-Punk and a kind of Dark-Rock. The work is diversified, the songs being often carried by strong choruses. Parts of the album also remind me of Placebo and the Belgian formation The Customs.
+ + + : “Blue” is a great and fully enjoyable work because of its diversity and especially the fusion of all influences. It takes off a rather dark and Cold-Wave style featuring great opening songs (cf. “Fell In Love” and “Hello, Darkness”) and progressively evolves towards a more Rock-Wave style (cf. “Ghost Memory” and “Dance In The Darkness”). The drums, played by a real drummer, inject a true boost of energy. Last, but not least I should say a good band always needs a great singer and Dustin Frelich definitely has a charismatic voice.
– – – : The artwork of this album looks pretty sober, maybe a little bit too sober although clearly matching with the title of the work; it looks simply blue.
Conclusion: This album sounds like a true revelation; Cerulean Veins is a band I can strongly encourage you to discover.
Best songs: “Fell In Love”, “Hello, Darkness”, “Dance In The Darkness”, “Boo”, “Ghost Memory”.
Rate: (8).
Artist: www.facebook.com/CeruleanVeins
Label: www.coldtransmission.com / www.facebook.com/coldtransmissionmusic
About Cerulean Veins
Cerulean Veins is a darkwave and post-punk band from San Diego, California, formed in 2013 by the married couple Dustin Frelich (vocals, bass) and Amanda Ashley Toombs (synths). Discogs also lists Paul Welch, Bob Patrowicz and Matt Yansch as members. The duo released the albums “Self-Entitled” (2016) and “Ado” (2017) and a long run of digital singles before “Blue”, and appeared on the Cold Transmission Music compilations “Zeitgeist Vol. 3” (2018) and “Spotlight Vol. 2” (2022).
“Blue” first appeared on 10 January 2020 as a self-released download and CD-R, with a limited cassette on Reclusion Records the same year and an acoustic companion, “Blue, Unplugged”. Cold Transmission Music issued the CD edition on 21 May 2021, according to Discogs. The eleven tracks are “Fell In Love”, “Hello, Darkness”, “Boo”, “Ghost Memory”, “Silent As Ghosts”, “Revenge Of The Lonely”, “Heard A Rumour”, “Dance In The Darkness”, “Love Will Return Us”, “Nothing At All” and “We’re All Stories In The End”. The Bandcamp credits list Frelich on voice and bass, Toombs on synth, Paul Welch on guitar and Matt Yansch on drums.
The fourth album Black followed on Cold Transmission Music in 2023 and was reviewed on Side-Line in April of that year. Frelich and Toombs discussed the record in the Click Interview with Cerulean Veins: ‘Humanity Is Our Biggest Source Of Inspiration’ in June 2023, and “Black” appeared in the Side-Line Top 25 industrial / darkwave albums of the year 2023. “Blue” is the band’s third album and its first Side-Line review.
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