The Bellrays Heavy Steady Go! (CD)

(Sweet Gee Records) 10 tracks, digisleeve

Hailing from Riverside, California, BellRays fuse punk, rock and soul with the unique authenticity that has made them who they are today. “We created a band and music based on what we love,” explain Lisa Kekaula and Robert Vennum, founding members of The BellRays. The tradition that the band has continued over the past thirty years has inspired them to bring their influences into the music. It's in their DNA. The sound can be described with a simple formula: Emotion + Energy = Excitement. Their latest album Heavy Steady Go! adheres strictly to this rule, but also offers new colors and shades of the tried and true formula. “We've been described in some variations as 'Tina Turner fronting AC/DC' or 'Motorhead meets Aretha Franklin', which comes with the expectation that we'll be like that every time,” explains Robert Vennum. “We're expected to be something that doesn't exist.” This recording is divided by two cities, two years and two badass rhythm sections: Mark Cisneros (bass) and Ron Miller (drums), both of Kid Congo & The Pink Monkey Birds in Tucson, AZ, and later the return of former drummer Craig Waters (Cody Chestnut, Andre Williams, The Countdowns) and new addition Nico Miles on bass, produced by Lisa and Robert in Riverside, CA. Heavy Steady Go! #is described by the pair as 'a festival in album form'. The contrasting blends of styles and musical collaborations between the quartet are a powerful, focused rock 'n' roll”. Robert and Lisa explain that with these songs “we pay homage toTom Petty, Bon Scott, Fleetwood Mac, Howlin' Wolf, Cheap Trick, Betty Davis and dozens of others who inspired this album. We wrote and crafted these songs by looking at ourselves through the lens of the iconic sounds we grew up with.