THE BELLRAYS
Raw Collection
(Vital Gesture)
Compilations of singles and stray tracks can often be a dicey proposition; often there's a good reason certain songs end up as B-sides and not album tracks. Sometimes songs are donated as favors to independent record companies to use as 45s, and are thus often drawn from an artist's second or third tier of material. For the BellRays, however, this is never the case. Singer Lisa Kekaula, guitarist/songwriter Tony Fate and bassist/secondary writer Bob Vennum (plus, on these recordings, drummers Ray Chin and Todd Westover) would never release anything to which they didn't give 200%, so Raw Collection is a start-to-finish great rock & roll record. Arranged in chronological order from 1995 to 2002, the songs were taken from vinyl singles, except for a couple of English CD-single B-sides and two tracks from the group's split CD with homeboys the Streetwalkin' Cheetahs, and there's not a dud among them. From the heavy soul of "You're Sorry Now" to the near pop of "Mind's Eye," from the powerhouse roots rock of "Half a Mind" to the fireball punk of "Suicide Baby," this is the most consistent platter in the band's catalog, which is saying something. It's impossible, indeed, undesirable to pick favorites here, but certain tracks are notable for different reasons. The punky "Pinball City" and early Motown-flavored "Mother Pinball," from what was apparently a CD tribute to pinball, show the band in rare humor, sporting impish grins while rocking like fuck. The bonecrushing "Say What You Mean," retrieved from the Cheetahs disk, is as close as the 'Rays get to heavy metal, and should be used as a model for young headbangers who want to know how it's done. The most sparkling gem may be "Gather Darkness," a fiercely passionate and powerful rocker taken from a rare 8" single; it's one of Fate's best songs, and it's given knockout performances by he and Kekaula. Ideally, any true rock & roll fan would own anything with the BellRays' name on it, but if you want to get started, Raw Collection is a perfect primer. Michael Toland [buy it]

For fans of: Wayne Kramer, the Who, the Clash