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The Bellrays with Nebula and The Flash Express
By Ken Shimamoto
Ah, the vagaries of the music biz. Consider the Bellrays, buzz band o’ the year four years ago, now kinda starting over again.
After the band took South By Southwest by storm and released two discs of high-energy rock and soul (Let It Blast and Grand Fury), guitarist Tony Fate flew the coop, taking with him his explosive brand of guitar damage — one with an awareness of both jazz and punk. The remaining Bellrays soldiered on, with bassist Bob Vennum reclaiming the guitar he’d relinquished when Fate joined in ’96.
This shouldn’t have made any difference, as the real action here is singer Lisa Kekaula, who’s been variously described as sounding like Aretha Franklin fronting the MC5 and Tina Turner fronting the Live At Leeds-era Who. But post-Fate, Kekaula got involved in side projects like Now Time Delegation, an aggro including ex-Big Boy/hotshot producer Tim Kerr and two Gospel Swingers. You’d even hear the occasional voice crabbing about the Bellrays trying too hard or taking themselves too seriously with their political raps. It seemed as if they were losing momentum.
Now, with Fate back in the fold, they’re crisscrossing the States in support of their latest release, Raw Collection, a c.d.’s worth of material originally released on 7-inch vinyl and various compilations. They’ll also be previewing material from the all-new Red White and Black, set for a European release this fall.
Folks who’ve had their heads turned by garage rock pretenders like the Strokes, Hives, and Vines (death to all millennial bands with monosyllabic names!) would do well to show up for the real deal. The political situation being as it is, maybe we really could use a new MC5 after all.
The Bellrays with Nebula and The Flash Express. Sat at the Gypsy Tea Room, 2548 Elm St, Dallas. $10. 214-747-9663.
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