If you would have said the name Belltown to me two weeks ago, I would have given you a confused look. I had never, ever heard of them. That was until their bassist, Christian Lundqvist got in touch with me, said he loved Punktastic and asked if we’d review his band’s EP. So, in the spirit of all things punk, and following a few emails later, Belltown‘s latest record, ‘Desillusion Day’ landed on my doormat. And I’m now quite glad that I do know the name.
Residing from Sweden, not really known in the past for providing anything too musical other than Abba, Belltown are just one of a number of exciting bands that are producing good records. Millencolin, Refused and The Hives are another three, and with any luck, Belltown, with their post-hardcore sound, could well be another to break it reasonably big.
The EP, released on Slugger Productions, kicks off with ‘Rollcage’ and the first thing you notice, aside from the crunching riffs, are the vocals. Belltown may be from Sweden but their is a very American sound to the vox, which can only help them in their quest to break the USA. Borrowing from bands like Quicksand and early Foo Fighters, ‘Rollcage’ is a good, solid opener. A key change comes at just about the right time and the guitar tone is different from a lot of the other stuff around at the moment. Singer/guitarist Daniel Palm can mix melody with brutal hardcore screams when he needs to, and although ‘Rollcage’ is nothing ground-breaking, it’s still a strong opening.
‘Weirdness Magnet’ starts off with a strong bass-led riff, and does take a bit of time to get into gear. But when it does, it rocks. More intricite than the first song, Daniel again uses his vocal range to rock out when he needs to. “Can it be so hard,” he screams, and it has to be said that Belltown do make this melodic rock game look reasonably easy. Again it borrows heavily from bands like Quicksand, but doesn’t venture too far into rip-off territory. The good use of a bridge and key change also get the thumbs up, and the solo during the outro isn’t too wanky. Being a big hater of pointless guitar solo’s, this is also a plus.
Another simple riff opens ‘Under A Rock,’ and although it does sound similar to something I’ve heard before, I can’t quite put my finger on it. Very simple lyrically, but at the same time the song drips melody. ‘Concerning You’ has a weird effects laden beginning, with Daniel’s strong vocals overlaying it. Then a thunderous riff kicks in, a definite album highlight. The bassline rumbles on before the effects kick in again. Post-hardcore often relies too heavy on dynamics, but Belltown manage to get the quiet and loud bits just right. It’s not too quiet, yet at the same time it’s not too heavy. But it rocks nonetheless.
EP closer ‘Deadweight’ kicks off in fine fashion, heavy, but not overly so. What does remain throughout the EP’s heavier moments are the strong sense of structure and hooks, something which Belltown do have in abudance. Again, there’s a strong key change which keeps everything interesting. Quite possibly the best song here too.
Being ultra-critical, the heavy bits maybe aren’t heavy enough, although they could well be live. But the hooks and melodies are superb, and the band’s sound isn’t borrowed or generic. A good solid EP which you can buy from http://hem.passagen.se/belltown. They might not be world-beaters just yet, but there’s enough promise here to show that Belltown could be on the verge of something slightly bigger…
Paul Savage