Aunty Blue // Bond Girl Single Review

Written by Fred Carlyle

Photo by Finn Goldstraw

Aunty Blue are no strangers to the Couchdog family as we’ve been falling victim to this band’s addictive supply of melancholic grooviness for countless times now and so It almost feels as though we’ve gotten to grow up alongside this group of lovely folk-playing folks. It was in the back end of 2022 when Couchdog first caught up for a chat with Aunty Blue; the recent release of their debut EP ‘Don’t Let Me Down’ did nothing but affirm our already strong hunch that these guys had something really special to offer. Throughout it’s five tracks, this first release did nothing but showcase the band’s exceptional ability of pairing beautifully nostalgic and vulnerable songwriting (which were accentuated by lead singer Kimberly’s emotive vocal prowess) with dance-inducing rhythms and mesmerising instrumentals, thus living up to their self-made promise to ‘caress your soul whilst simultaneously grooving your socks off.’

Then, if we fast forward a year or so, the late springtime of 2023 saw Couchdog getting the opportunity to discuss these guys once more as Aunty Blue came back with the double single release of ‘Raising Our Kids/Forgive Yourself’. This release seemed to take all of the quirks and qualities ‘Don’t Let Me Down’ and compact them into two songs as Forgive Yourself is as irresistibly groovy as it is heartfelt and sensitive while ‘Raising Our Kids’ (which is a personal favourite of mine) offers their moody folk/rock craft some of their most raw, personal hauntingly beautiful capabilities so far.

Now, after almost a year and a half since the last time we spoke about the group, we’re more than happy to open the Aunty Blue file once more as, after releasing their single ‘Keep It’ back in January, our favourite anxious rockers return today with their latest offering ‘Bond Girl’.

To open up the track we’re first introduced to the song’s core guitar riff which provides this short and sweet melody that repeats itself in separate notes. There’s a hazy and intimate feeling to the guitar at the start (it’s isolated presence makes you pick up on all the little sounds that comes from the instrument as Nikki slides the chords back and forth) that reminded me affectionately of ‘Teenage Blue’ by American Dream Pop band Dreamgirl as that song’s guitar-focused intro is done in a very similar fashion.

It’s not long until the song begins to pick up in intensity (an intensity which is exhibited wonderfully by the reserve-and-release style of Tommy’s drumming and Nikki’s bassline) as it enters its chorus. One of the many qualities of Aunty Blue that this song shines a light on is the band's knack at making these song structures that have a smooth ebb and flow as many of their songs will lift you up only to gently bring you back down. This satisfying quality of theirs (which you can also find in tracks such as Turning and Always Say the Wrong Thing) Is highlighted in Bond Girl especially through the way in which the instrumentals always act according to the rise and fall of Kimberly’s emotive vocals as she shifts from timid to steely. Speaking of Kim’s vocals; this track once again highlights the incredible range and emotional power of her voice, especially in the magnificent way in which she can somehow come across as sounding both fragile and firm at the same time. 

In regards to the lyrics and tone of this track, ‘Bond Girl’ provides us with something that separates itself from Aunty Blue’s familiar themes of young adulthood and self-introspection as this track playfully uses the ‘Bond Girl’ trope (the archetypal love interest in a James Bond film whose mostly there just as an object of lust for both Mr Bond and the audience) as a vessel to express the band’s frustrated and fed up attitude towards the movie industry’s depiction of women.

You can tell that Kimberly fun writing these lyrics, yet that’s not to imply that what’s being said is lighthearted: the wry, tongue-in-cheek jabs made at the song’s topic such as ‘your male colleague and love interest could have been your grandaddy’ will make you grin, only to then make yourself think “oh that’s actually kind of messed” up a second later. While tracks such as ‘Turning’ and ‘Raising Our Kids’ have shown Aunty Blue to take a step back from their usual lyrical themes, both of those examples still conveyed an emotional tone that feels heart-rendingly raw, vulnerable and anguished. However, in the case of ‘Bond Girl’, we’re given something that feels jaded; there’s this bitterness and fed up undertone that clings itself to each and every word spoken in this track that’s incredibly compelling and quite unlike anything else we’ve got so far from Aunty Blue, thus showcasing us that we’ve only caught a glimpse of what Aunty Blue’s got to offer us in the grander scheme of things, and bloody hell that makes me excited for what’s to come next.

You can listen to 'Bond Girl' here

Check out Aunty Blue on Instagram here