Seize It Quick

Note: The LP version comes with a CD and a CD Baby Download Card.

The Bell Beat’s album, Our Manderley, can be compared to a fine pint of India Pale Ale. It opens with the slow, pungent notes of an organ, hits with finely-composed complexities of musical flavor and depth, while finishing smoothly with clear intention. With this follow-up release to The Carrot Chase (performed/recorded as Sh! The Octopus), The Bell Beat has ventured introspectively forward. With song-writing firmly rooted in the storied canon of American music but tempered by varied contemporary indie rock movements, The Bell Beat manages to create a catalog of songs that swells with the nautical energy and the arboreal essence of the Great Lakes. The musical framework of each piece is layered with rich sound and verse. Lyrics anchored in a style more akin to American prose, each piece can all at once respect the work of long-dead poets and give breath to the sensible whisperings of continued oral tradition. The Bell Beat’s music sounds at home both in a local Detroit pub or at a favorite camping spot buried somewhere in the Leelanau Peninsula. It has the character of the urban landscape and the fidelity of hushed leaves and folding waves.

Randy Bishop is the principal songwriter and vocalist. His inspired vocals and driven guitar rhythms sail under the dancing and head-bobbingly addictive melodies of fellow guitarist Andy Stachowiak. The interplay between both these guitarists is further accented by Marina Trejo’s enriching layers of vocal accents and keyboard intricacies. Joel Pearson, drummer, and Chris Sesta, bassist, anchoring these soaring mid-ranges and high-notes, compose the incredibly unshakable and complex rhythm section. The Bell Beat is, when whittled down to its essence, a painting – flashes of bold, dots of bright, and strokes of dark shadow – in the form of musical expression and artistic camaraderie.

Storied songs woven of musical and lyrical complexities, The Bell Beat’s Our Manderley does not beg of you, but requires you, to stop, listen, tap, and hum along. And, it just might cajole you into drinking that pint of IPA.

- Casimir Kopacki Writer/Chef/Musician