-----Messaggio originale-----
Da: FallingJ@aol.com <FallingJ@aol.com>
Data: giovedì 28 ottobre 1999 1.59
Oggetto: Musica// Falling James (of the Leaving Trains)
Hi Music Lovers and Even Tolerators!
Falling James (of the Leaving Trains) here meddling again with your
perceptions of culture.
There is a REALLY GREAT, albeit obscure, coed rock band from
Seattle
called BELL, with a great, low-voiced femme singer, that will be playing
three shows in the L.A. area this weekend (and look out for them in S.F. and
the PacNorWest as well), including:
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 29 . . . Headline Records on Melrose Blvd. in
Hollywood.
This show's free, at about 7 p.m.
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 30 . . . Al's Bar, downtown
L.A.. Bell are playing
with Detroit's The Go.
Also early next week (Tues. or Mon.??) at the PCH club in
Wilmington
(see L.A. WEEKLY for exact dates, addresses, etc.). BELL is also looking for
a Halloween party or show to play on SUNDAY, OCT. 31 in the SoCal area . . .
any ideas, culture mavens?
Of course, you may wonder what they SOUND like. The following is
a CD
review I wrote about BELL that should appear in the L.A. WEEKLY within a few
weeks, but I'm passing it around NOW so people won't miss out on seeing them
here in a few days. BELL's previous EP, PERFECT MATH, was very Concrete
Blonde/Pretenders-ish, lotsa sweet, sarcastic ballads, produced very
gleamingly by Jack Endino (SKIN YARD, NIRVANA, etc.). Bell's new full-length
CD, A NEW KIND OF ROME, however, is a dramatic change in style. Very rock,
with lotsa fast, frantic songs, kinda like a brainier, more world-weary X or
more punked-up Patti Smith (maybe), with lotsa '70s New York influences. They
do a great cover version of Television's "Friction," f'rinstance. Just go see
'em. Here's a review for a rough idea of their current sound (all reference
points are approximate, don't sue me for grand generalizations---they're a
great, guilty pleasure rock band for those of us who still like real,
intelligent-ish rock & roll---hence the name of the band's label, which is
neither an apology or self-deprecation: "Yeah, It's Rock").
Bell
A New Kind of Rome
(Yeah, It's Rock)
Bell's Vanessa Veselka has got a big mouth, which probably gets
her
into lots of trouble with authority figures, but she's also got a big, warm,
low throb of a voice that delivers her sarcasm so gorgeously on the Seattle
quartet's third album, A New Kind of Rome. During the frantic inner
travelogue "12:48," her agoraphobia reaches messianic proportions: "Jesus
left the cave after three days dead/I can't even get out of my head." On the
lustfully envious rave-up "Always Someone Better," Veselka neatly summarizes
the voyeur/exhibitionist dichotomy: "Please, please undress/I wanna
watch/Pretend like you like it/and I'll pretend that I don't." Later, she
takes on the "greedy, bloated gargoyles" at her friendly credit-card company:
"If you ever had plans to get your money back/you shouldn't have raised my
interest to 21%, because now I'm broken!"
The reason these "loud guitars and neurotic lyrics"
matter is because
each song kicks into an instantly memorable chorus, with Veselka's deeper
melodies frosted by the icing of bassist Susan Larson's sweetly arch high
harmonies. Reversing the typical career progression of other bands, Bell
crank up A NEW KIND OF ROME with more speed and desperation than the
"polished, mid-tempo syrup" of their previous EP, PERFECT MATH, whose
celestial ballads sometimes evoked Concrete Blonde and the Pretenders. Here,
the reference points are Television, Lou Reed, Patti Smith and the Stones,
whose songs Veselka used to busk on the streets of Prague. An exception is
the wistful "Hostages," which slips away from the pier like a rowboat
bobbing atop Larson's undulating bass lines, even as sparks from Damon
Romero's and Veselka's guitars slice into the water like fireworks. Could she
be singing about NATO's bombing of Yugoslavia when she admits, "I don't wanna
go down to the room/where women weep over bridges blown/Everyone expects me
to feel something/But I don't."
But you will. (Falling James)
Bell's Web site:
http://www.musicscene.com/friends/bel.html
THE LEAVING TRAINS Web site:
http://www.artnet.net/~leaving-trains/
(the next Leaving Trains show, by the way, is THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 18 at The
Dragonfly on Santa Monica Blvd. in Hollywood. It's a benefit for the
Elizabeth Glaser AIDS foundation, with various L.A. WEEKLY employed bands,
like PIGMY LOVE CIRCUS, SPOOKY PIE, GRIFT and many more.)
