December 18, 2000
THE BELLRAYS
Grand Fury (Vital Gesture/Uppercut)
My friends, it just doesn't get any better than this. Riverside's BellRays rock the rock like no other combo. Bassist Bob Vennum drives the band with powerful, penetrating four-string lines that carry the potentially destructive force of rocket fuel. Drummer Ray Chin's jazzy inflections give the sheer power of his playing an added dimension, setting the rhythms apart and above those of similar bands. Singer Lisa Kekaula wails with the anger of Andrea Dworkin at a porn convention, croons with the tenderness of a new mother or sneers with a contempt that would be off-putting if it weren't so often justified. Guitarist Tony Fate is quite simply the best rhythm/lead guitarist since Bob Mould, maybe since Pete Townshend—he smashes chords like the Hulk fighting the army, sprays notes like a high pressure fire hose and tears powerhouse licks out of his battered Gibson SG like a starving tiger having at its prey. For all his (grand) fury, he can also caress his instrument, coaxing melodic arpeggios and lead lines from it that would make BB King proud. The Townshend/Mould comparison is apt in another way as well. Fate writes impossibly strong songs full of memorable riffs and the kind of lyrics Iggy Pop would never dream of, probing, imaginative treatises on self-reliance in the face of bullshit that refuse to sacrifice intelligence for inchoate anger, or an ounce of passion for highbrow discourse. Indeed, passion is what this band is all about—the burning need for self-expression, the realization that sometimes the only way to get a point across is to explode. With Grand Fury, the BellRays confirm for the world what those of us who've reveled in their live shows already know—they're the best rock 'n' roll band in the world.
Or are they? Chin left soon after recording Fury. And while new drummer Todd Westover drove the band to new heights on stage with his backbeat-intensive attack, he quit after band founders Vennum and Kekaula asked Fate to leave this past September. Kekaula and Vennum have already recruited a new rhythm section (Vennum having switched back to guitar, his original instrument), including original bassist Jeff Porterfield, and will no doubt steer the band back to the soul-influenced waters it sailed before Fate's arrival, but it's hard to imagine the group hitting the same heights without Fate's songs and six-string mastery. Fate and Westover, meanwhile, are putting their own band together, and face the daunting task of finding a singer with Kekaula's force and charisma. Both new bands are indisputably worth keeping an eye on, but the splintering of the BellRays is a real tragedy for rock 'n' roll fans. In a word, goddammit.
For fans of: the MC5, the Streetwalkin' Cheetahs, Wayne Kramer
REV. NEIL DOWN
American Friend (Burnbarrel)
Alaska's Rev. Neil Down makes the kind of slightly eccentric music that can only come from isolation. With nothing around to influence him but his own memories, Down creates his own kind of roots rock. It has echoes of the blues, country and rockabilly, but only echoes—the guitarist/songwriter/singer definitely follows his own muse. "I can still recall yet a harder time/When I was stayin' with a friend of a friend of mine/Crashin' underneath the Hollywood sign/Wakin' up flea-bitten with a twisted spine/The queen was freebasin' in Room 436/This joker down the hall he was cookin' up a fix/Gun shots goin' off in the flat below/But baby that day was nothin'/No, that day was slow" he hollers in the title track. He seems hellbent on crossing Tom Waits with Willie Dixon and Johnny Cash, and for the most part he succeeds. He's a solid, tasteful guitarist, and while his voice sometimes threatens to careen off its tracks like a runaway train, for the most part he knows exactly how to use his flawed larynx. Aided by former Elvis (both Presley and Costello) bassist Jerry Scheff, as well as local musicians (yes, apparently Alaska has some), Down consecrates the record with a powerful dose of roadhouse rock 'n' roll. Expect a laying on of hands any minute.
For fans of: John Fogerty, Johnny Dowd, Hasil Adkins
ORATORY
Illusion Dimensions (Limb/SPV)
Portugal's Oratory describes its sound as "neo classic melodic power metal," whatever that means. Apparently it involves majestic, galloping arrangements that try to translate a cavalry charge into heavy metal music. There's some classical influence, but it has less impact on the actual riffs than on the way the parts are put together and the occasional harmony leads. The songs are fairly well-crafted, if rather samey, but when it works ("Rising Land," "Fight For the Light"), it works well. The big problem here is the words. Why singers Marco Alves and Ana Lara don't write and sing in their native language is a mystery—their grasp of English isn't quite up to par for the type of mythic, grandiose lyrics they think they're writing ("He brought a new awakening/A new symphony in their hearts/A melody never heard again/But never turned apart"—huh?). There's also the occasional hex error like "I' m sited [sic] on a star." Worse, the vocal melodies wander all over the place. Part of the problem is Alves' vocal limitations—he's passionate, all right, but that's about it—but part of it has got to be the writers' unfamiliarity with the rhythms of English. It's a shame, as Lara's counterpoint soprano would sound particularly lovely if it was gracing her own language, and the lyrics would undoubtedly fit the music better. Oratory is apparently a big deal in its own land, but they've got some things to work on before they're ready to take on the rest of the world.
For fans of: Rhapsody, Royal Hunt, Europe
VANCOUVER NIGHTS
Vancouver Nights (Endearing)
Led by Sara Lapsley, former frontperson for the band Kreviss, Canada's Vancouver Nights generate carefully structured, giddily melodic piano pop. Combining the raw emotional urgency of her riot grrrl days with the attention to detail and structure gleaned from studying classical music at Capliano College, Lapsley perfectly balances passion and craft on tunes like "Ben," "Naikoon Park" and "If, By Will." The record's clean production (by David Carswell and the Smugglers' John Collins) stays out of the songs' way, letting the hooks speak for themselves; it's nice to hear an album of complex pop that doesn't feel the need to pile on layers and gimmicks. The band's overall sweetness is leavened just enough by the unhappy love in the lyrics (see "Dark is My Heart") to keep it from sending the listener into sugar shock, though some might disagree with that assessment. Good, solid pop.
For fans of: the Apples in stereo, Aimee Mann, Eric Matthews
THE WONDER STUFF
Never Loved Elvis (Polydor)
One of Birmingham, England's most successful bands (at least in the UK), the Wonder Stuff had become stadium headliners by 1991. Having made the band's name with impossibly cheeky, smartass power pop (with hits like "Give, Give, Give Me More, More, More" and "It's Your Money I'm After, Baby"), leader Miles Hunt lets his latent sweet spot hog the spotlight on their third album Never Loved Elvis. Beautiful, folky melodies on songs like "Mission Drive," "Maybe," "Sleep Alone" and the stunning "Caught in My Shadow" (possibly the band's best tune ever) will bury themselves in your brain immediately, and Hunt matches the music's tone with intelligent, even (gasp) mature lyrics like "No I'm not changing my lines/I'm just learning new things with the passage of time." New member Martin Bell enhances the songs' sweetness even further with well-arranged fiddle, mandolin and banjo passages. This isn't to say the band has given itself a total facelift, however. "Welcome to the Cheap Seats" and "The Size of a Cow" poke fun at the band's then-burgeoning stardom with their usual wit, self-deprecating egomania and muscular pop hooks, and are among the album's highlights. With smarts, style, sass and sweets, not to mention enough catchy melodies to satisfy the most discerning pop lover, Never Loved Elvis is the very definition of the phrase "underrated masterpiece."
The band made one more album, the competent but uninspired Construction For the Modern Idiot, before splintering. After a period of introspection, Hunt launched a mostly acoustic solo career, aided by Bell and Stuff guitarist Malcolm Treece, with whom he's made a couple of albums, including the often-stunning Hairy On the Inside.
For fans of: the Waterboys, Mega City Four, the Smiths