Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
A snapshot is just a fragment of time to which we should have no reference in which to base an opinion, and yet that brief microsecond is all that is needed in some cases for some to judge and speculate wildly, as if we were all in command of deciding someone’s fate or determining the status or strength of a relationship.
It is not human nature to be part of the crowd which looks down their noses at someone else’s achievements, an act of facial violence that encourages others to follow suit, it is the absurdity of life that it has somehow though become regarded as normal social practise, that the Polaroids & Violence go hand in hand, that without the snapshot we cannot base our gut reaction on anything other than cruelty, hostility and perhaps aggressive brutality.
It is in this dichotomy of emotions that Warrington-based singer Abi Rose Kelly steps forth and takes control with her second single, Polaroids & Violence, Rock and Roll security with the twist often ignored in the modern era, that of change on a classic feel, acknowledging that the two moments can live side by side, can enlarge the second in which the burst of a polaroid picture and the snap of aggressive violence can be stretched out to make a more detailed scene.
To have a consummate sound in the making, one needs to have lived the life that you are willing to lay open for others to discuss, anyone can talk the talk, but few can ever say that they have held the developed picture in their hands and then reflected upon it with interest, especially when they allow the rest of the world to peek, to prod and poke the scene with no context in those voyeuristic minds. This ability to go beyond those thoughts, to stride along as your own guide is always impressive and Abi Rose Kelly in this single certainly excels in doing just that.
Scorching reflections of anger and placing trust in someone’s ability to get past the early struggles of a relationship under the scrutiny of others, a single photograph in which others believe they know all the answers, but to whom only Abi Rose Kelly truly understands how intuitive Polaroids & Violence really are.
Ian D. Hall