Bells Deep makes music that makes you feel sorry about the state of the world and glad that you’re hearing about it from particular sources and closing your ears to all others. If, indeed, for all these years, you’d have trusted most of the pop stars anxious to give you the lowdown, you’d be on your way to the lunatic asylum, or, even more likely, anxious to tell everyone you meet that there’s no reason they should ever worry about anything again.
It takes pretty special artists to share genuine misery with and get a few laughs in as well. That’s because nearly all artists are, at heart, would-be cult leaders or dictators just looking for enough followers that they can start reading out loud the dress code they’ve been working on for years.
“Fog,” the new record by Bells Deep, wants to find a way to connect with you, but would rather do it from a safe distance. The songwriter doesn’t much trust the world these days and advises you to keep your eyes peeled and flashlight charged.
Opening track, “DEAD2ME”, fits indie-pop hooks that are as friendly as anniversary cards to lyrics that contain some serious bite, and some honest mistrust of the world and its inhabitants.
There’s more of the same sound that suggests 2001’s The Strokes attempting to do pop instead of New York garage-rock across many of the tracks here. “Start with Sorry” is remarkably hooky, even if, once again, the lyrics deal with weight threatening to crush the singer.
“Don’t trust anyone, but don’t lose your sense of humour either!” This seems to be the message of this indie-pop release in these days of trials and trouble. “Tabloid TV Fever Dream” feels like it was written for a photographer hiding behind the garbage cans of some aged celebrity. And, the zany “Don’t Despair,” with each Tom Waits-like glee for blending baritone vocals to junkyard percussion, is one more ingredient in the recipe against the hysteria of the times.
Order “Fog” at bellsdeep.bandcamp.com/album/fog-2
But all that fighting is bound to tire you and leave you feeling empty. This Bells Deep collection has tunes for those moments as well. The piano-led “Understatement” sounds like music meant to be played after the funeral of some news anchorman who died yelling, “I was right all along!” And “Sugar Cube,” with its reverb-soaked blues, rings out like a barroom song requested by some aged, worn-out fugitive from the law.
Where does it leave us? Still here and still living these times despite our best efforts to boogie it all away. The album’s title track, “Fog,” says it plainly. It sure feels good to be alive, even, or perhaps, because everything eventually fades away behind a cloud through which it’s impossible to see. And while we drive toward it, wouldn’t we rather smile about it all while we can?
