Pip Blom’s High Octane Mix of Pop Meets Punk
Over the past few years, Pip Blom have charmed audience around the world with their unique blend
of irresistible indie pop. The band might be named after vocalist Pip but the band are definitely a
sum of its parts. Guitarists siblings Pip and Tender Blom are responsible for hooks that had the audience at Bath’s Moles club, where the band were playing as part of Independent Venues Week, throwing themselves around the club with abandon from the opening bars of Faces, one of the strongest tracks from sophomore album Welcome Break.
The rhythm section consisting of bassist Darek Marcks and drummer Gini Cameron are the engine that keep the band chugging with Gini’s drums rivalling Pixies’ Dave Lovering for manic intensity.
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Pip Blom’s star has been on the rise for the past few years. Inclusion on the soundtrack to the hit
Netflix series Sex Education has certainly helped rise their profile with standout single School having
been streamed on Spotify almost 4 million times. Fame hasn’t gone to their heads however with the
band playing the pint-sized Moles with to 300 happy punters at a sold-out show. Moles has also
played host to other up-and-coming bands such as Radiohead, Oasis and The Killers so a spot here
always bodes well.
The set was a high-octane mix of singles and songs from debut album Boat and 2021’s follow-up
Welcome Break including Babies Are A Lie, Ruby and Keep it Together. The mix of perfect pop and
tight, punkish rhythms nod to New Wave acts live Wire and Elastica with Pip’s vocal coming across as
a mix of Debbie Harry at her most melodic and The Sundays’s Harriet Wheeler. This was the second
time the band have performed at Moles and they’ve also played lots of shows in nearby Bristol,
including a support slot for the mighty Breeders.
Tonight they are playing to a welcoming, excited crowd who know the band and have come here to enjoy themselves. They certainly play a crowd-pleasing set made up mainly of their faster numbers which goes down as well as you might expect.
After the band wind up the show with a blasting rendition of favourite Daddy Issues, it’s off to the
merch stand where all four members chat with fans and sign merchandise in a manner that’s as
refreshingly unpretentious as it is endearing. If you only know Pip Blom from the hits, now’s the time
to dip into their back catalogue and watch them live while there are still playing intimate venies like
Moles before it’s too late!
Have you listened to Pip Blom before?
What did you think of their ‘Welcome Break’ album?
Let us know on social media.
