The BellRays - 'The Red, White & Black' (Poptones)
3/5
By: Toby L
WOO-HOO, LET'S GET THIS F**KING PARTY STARTED, MUTHA-F**KA, AIEEEEEEEEEEE, WHOA, AAHH, OOH, YEE-HAH, WHEWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW...
Oh, excuse us - a shot each of BellRays later, and we're foaming at the mouth - like rabid tigers that have just been unsuccessfully castrated, ready to pounce upon the poor f**ker that's failed to do their job properly. Yes, this is noise. This is soul. This is punk.
And somehow, 'this' actually works. Once again fusing the mighty clobber of Lisa Kekaula's full-on vocal-command, the three-chord aesthetic of late-70s NYC rock, jazzy time-interludes and improve-stylee solos and the joyous spirit and fervour of timeless rock 'n' roll (and, in 'Find Someone To Believe In', the band merges all of the above, to a tunefully delightful result), The BellRays return with a new, ultra lo-fi, studio-LP, 'The Red, White & Black'.
Ooh, and there's free-range, what-the-hell-is-that, poetry-strewn weirdness - 'Poison Arrow'. Art-funk. Whilst a smattering of groove-tastic wall-shakers and club-bangers ('Remember'; 'Revolution Get Down'; 'Black Is The Color'; 'Voodoo Train') palpitate the psyche, and 'Street Corner' serenades with its guitar/vox break-down prior to a crushing close. Come the soulful combustion of 'Stone Rain' (complete with a lyric-lift from 'Heartbreak Hotel'), you're gasping for breath and feeling increasingly used.
In a good way, at least. For The BellRays do this with style and create a pretty meaty listening-experience in the process, one bettered with repeat-airings. If you're not too knackered from the first encounter, that is.
Artists in this article: The BellRays
Your Feedback
Login to post your comment