Customer Reviews

Let It Blast

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

(This review edited to conform to content restrictions.) Godfuggindam! It's going to be awful hard to top this one in the few short months remaining before the big one drops. I dunno who these guys/gal are or where the hell they come from, but this is one of the best rack'n'roll records you're EVER gonna hear. The other fan review posted here checks Tina Turner and that's not stretching the truth even a LITTLE bit. The woman fronting this band, she just fu@#in' WAILS like you would not believe, cranking out incredible doses of grit and fire. Looking at the record a certain way, I do have to admit that both the vox and the songs/playing do derive from fairly commonplace generic forms. I mean, there's no shortage of blues/gospel divas with lungpower and certainly we got enuf snot-nosed punks huffing on those shiny chrome Dee-troit tailpipes. The genius here is in the cross-pollination and the execution. What's weird is how doggone OBVIOUS the idea is, once you grasp it. The MC5 wanted to be Black Panthers almost as much as they wanted to rock, and Detroit is ground zero for both strains of American music on display here. The whole post-Mick-Collins garage generation worships at the feet of the soul-gospel-R&B fountainhead this band channels like they were seated at the right hand of Aretha freaking Franklin. Be warned (if yer a square unused to the production aesthetic of sloppy-ass garage rock) that the "direct-to-boombox-in-our-sock-cheese-smelling-practice-space" vibe of the recording does result in some muddiness. It doesn't matter though; the vocals and the energy cut right on through the fog. There's a purity and an intensity here that (God help me) even the Motor City 5ive never quite attained. This record NEVER lets up and there isn't one throwaway song in the bunch. I can't say enough good things about this! It just kill me to know that nobody's ever really going to hear this thing. This record should be HUGE! If the right people DID hear it, Lenny Kravitz would produce (and no doubt f@#k up) the next one, and it'd be blasting outta your in-dash AM radio for months next summer. I swear, this is the record that could break balls-out, hyperdriven garage-trash mayhem into the mainstream. Whatever you do, don't miss this. If you're a label assh@le, sign them NOW! Give them all your money!!! YOU ARE NOT WORTHY!

"Blast" is one of those records that makes me happy merely being alive in the same world that it's in. See, the BellRays *mean* it in the best possible way. There's no artifice, there's no polish, there's nothing there but this record living and breathing. Whether you spent a lot of time hunting this set down or are maybe looking at it right now on-screen thinking it might be a nice impulse buy, actually hearing it is like discovering what brought you to this music in the first place. Really, it makes you believe that things matter again, and they do. And it's one of the best pun..., nah, one of the best records of the 90s, period.

This is the first album by the current Bellrays (their earlier 90's funk rock attempt doesn't count). It was very crudely recorded, live in their rehearsal space. This band really is one of the best live bands currently working, and has been for the past several years. Their albums have been getting better and better, as they seem to be improving as songwriters. Thus all of the subsequent albums are better than this one. But this one is still a rocking testament to what they were doing in the late 90s.

Also, I don't know how the earlier reviewer got the idea that the Bellrays are from Detroit. They are from LA, CA.

The BellRays combine the sounds of '60s and '70s Detroit, i.e. the working class hard rock that influenced punk and the rougher side of Motown, on their debut CD Let It Blast - basically like Tina Turner fronting the MC5. They're absolutely frigging incredible, one of the best bands I've heard in years. They're also great live - the last performance I saw had jaded rock critics lining up to buy their CDs. Take a chance on this one, make them rich and famous, you'll love every minute of it.

I have heard numerous complaints of the quality of this recording, which I respect...however, there is NOTHING that prevents each and every song from standing out like the proverbial beacon, beckoning and calling you to dig your heels in and groove. I wish I could relay just how much it means to have a band like this in my personal space. A rare find, often played and always enjoyed. Future now!

Detroit's BellRays are one of the most consistently exciting bands making music right now, and this, their debut, lays out the groundwork for their masterful garage-soul hybrid. The rhythm section is, as always, tight and vocalist Lisa Kekaula absolute wails. Although "Testify" is a little predictable, songs like "Changing Colors" and "Blues for Godzilla" are absolute monsters. If you haven't heard The BellRays, then you are deprived.

Probably Rock's best kept secret (....... judging by the amount of reviews in here), the Bellrays have forged their own path into rock history by combining the powerful salvation of soul music with punk rawness. Picture Etta James or Aretha Franklin coming on over to the garage next door to sing MC5 and Stooges songs, and you'll get part of the idea. Check out these sound bytes to feel the power - the solid rock of "Cold Man Message", the subtle tone shifts in "Today Was" and, for a taste of the glorious live Bellrays experience, "Kill the Messenger" where Lisa showcases her testifyin' skills.

This band is the real thing in an era where so much music sounds derivative or borrowed. Recorded in their tiny practice space and released on their own Savage Gesture label, "Let it Blast" packs a punky punch and really does blast out of the speakers - no polish at all here. The band will tell you they don't sound like this anymore, but I've seen them 3 times now, (with a different rhythm section every time), and each experience has been uniquely different with one constant - hot, sweaty, soulful rock and roll.

Even the band is out of these, so buy them up while you still can. (..............) If this is your first Bellrays experience, then git on board, children. Prepare to be converted - they will put the fire back in your soul.

Recently purchased this CD, and I have to say this is one of the most invigorating blasts of rock & soul that I have heard in a long, long while. People say rock is dead, and it's easy to understand that perspective if you only pay attention to the music that is popular right now. The Jam once sang about "Going Underground". The record buying population should heed this advice every now & then. So, go underground, and see what you find. If it's the BellRays, Let It Blast, I'd say it's a trip most worthwhile.

all the cool kids have it !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! you sould too!

About a month ago I saw these guys blow Dillinger Four off the stage at First Avenue in Minneapolis. When the curtain came up and I saw three grunge dudes and a big black lady warming up, I was like, "Whoa, what's this about?" Then as soon as they started playing I knew that this was the real deal. Absolutely incredible. I've never seen four musicians so into their performance. Some of the three-chord-pop-punkers in the crowd didn't know what to make of them, but screw 'em.

But when I found this record at a local punk boutique about a week later I was somewhat disappointed. What this record is, is a poorly produced album of an extraordinary live band. The sound is deflated for some reason, and it completely fails to capture the intensity of one of their live sets. This is more like a loose collection of tunes, as if they wanted to put out a new record and threw this rather incoherent mix together at the last minute.

It's a shame that a band as original and talented as this can't get picked up by a major label that could boost the production quality. At best, this CD will give you an idea of what they sound like live.

As for the sound itself... "Rock N' Soul," I guess they call it. Very cool stuff. Kind of like hardcore R&B. Aretha Franklin meets Black Flag. Reminiscent of MC5 and some of the late Iggy & the Stooges bootlegs, but more polished. It's rare to find this great a rock n'roll vocalist with such a tight rhythm section. Awesome, awesome stuff.