For 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 declares. 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.” 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 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—and about—the moment. A reviewer from London’s The Independent called the BellRays “some kind of dream combination: a belting soul singer backed by a tight punk-soul band...there’s nothing quite like them.” American audiences lag behind their U.K. counterparts, who have enthusiastically embraced the authenticity of the BellRays sound. Kekaula herself subsequently gained even greater notoriety over there after Basement Jaxx recruited her as a guest vocalist on “Good Luck,” the grab-you-by-the-balls opening cut of their Grammy-winning 2003 album Kish Kash. Kekaula has also collaborated with The Crystal Method, taking the lead on “High and Low” from the duo’s 2000 album Legion of Boom. With the BellRays, seeing is absolutely believing. After witnessing a Chicago show, a reviewer from the Spendid e-zine admitted, “I was so taken by The BellRays that if I was told to march out into the street and stop a car with my head, I probably would have.” The Boston Globe praised “the incendiary wail of vocalist Lisa Kekaula...the scrawl of guitarist Tony Fate, and the throbbing finesse of bassist Bob Vennum...The BellRays sock it to even the most hallowed and impassioned musical traditions with their great, yowling inferno of rock and soul.” Fellow artists, like legendary Los Angelenos X and the reformed Pixies, totally get it and count themselves as BellRays fans; in fact, the Pixies chose them as the opening act for their recent tour. The BellRays are on a mission, and if you have a little faith they might just change your world. That’s one way to get the revolution started.
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