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The BellraysFor the BellRays, the title of their latest album, Have A Little Faith, is a command, an ultimatum even. "We need more fearlessness!" firebrand singer Lisa Kekaula declared last fall when the Southern California quartet appeared in front of the Washington Monument alongside acts like Thievery Corporation for the Operation Ceasefire concert. On this disc, The BellRays lead by example, barreling through an impassioned, genre-bashing 13-song set of "maximum rock and soul," as they, in no uncertain terms, describe their sound. In another era, the BellRays would be blasting out of car radios. Nowadays, they're jump-starting car commercials, where cutting-edge bands seem to be getting more airplay than on your local FM station. For many listeners, their first exposure to the BellRays came from the Nissan Xterra commercial that featured the audacious vocals and killer guitar riffs of "Revolution Get Down," from the foursome's previous release, The Red White and Black. It's fitting somehow that the group has been linked to the auto industry because their sound is often compared to the hard-edged, defiant, rock-meets-R&B sound of late sixties/early seventies Detroit and specifically to Motor City artists like the MC5 and the Stooges (though Kekaula is way more Aretha than Iggy). The BellRays do reference Detroit, but more philosophically than geographically. They evoke a time when rock and roll was as much catalyst as soundtrack. "We can deliver live," guitarist and primary songwriter Tony Fate declares. "We don't go out and just play twelve hits, it's a whole communal thing. Everybody has to give something. There has to be an energy exchange. It's not like watching a TV show." "At our shows the age range is so wide," Kekaula adds. "We have a good mix no matter where we go in our world. They come to see us because they all find something to believe in. And we're not lying. It's like when you're talking to somebody, having a conversation. Sometimes you get more excited, sometimes you're really laid back, sometimes you have love in your heart, and sometimes you're angry. That's what we used to expect from bands, to go through the whole emotional gamut." The band has connected directly with its progenitors. Kekaula toured Europe and the states with the surviving members of the MC5�ichael Davis, Wayne Kramer, Dennis Thompson�n their much-heralded DKT/MC5 reunion, guest starring as lead vocalist. But the BellRays are no mere revivalists; what they do is neither designed to be ironic or imitative. They synthesize punk, R&B, funk and psychedelic rock with an undercurrent of gospel and the improvisational approach of jazz. As Fate explains, "We utilize a jazz sensibility for what we're doing. That makes the songs change every night and brings a chance element to the picture." The result is always in�nd about�he moment.www.thebellrays.com |
