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'Til Summer Ends by Bela
fave it - sample13
- sampleFor Those In Need
- sampleTurn It Off
- sampleThe Happy Bomb
- sampleHeaven's Slow
- sample'Til Summer Ends
- sampleGraduation Day
- sampleDope
- sampleDaybender
- sampleBack At The Strip
- sampleLove Lane
- sampleHart's Island
- samplePopparossa
- sampleSummer Bells
Surf-goth: "Shades of notable Belas (both Lugosi and Bartok) color this band's eerie lushly orchestral melancholy pop" - CMJ
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Editorial review
At once fluid, atmospheric, and haunting, Bela's full length debut comes across as a resurrected Kurt Cobain fronting Yo La Tengo as they cover a batch of Elliott Smith songs. Given the grunge roots of lead singer Jeff Hogan, formerly of Cultural Exhaust, it comes as little surprise that many of the tracks approach the masked tension and brooding honesty associated with that genre. Even so, there is a more graceful, at times almost classical, pop sensibility here, due in large part to the dynamic use of cello. With the beautifully sweeping strings of "Graduation Day," the full-bodied tuneful pop of "Love Lane," and the forceful marching drums of "For Those in Need," a new pop aesthetic is approached. Where the quirky "The Happy Bomb" brings to mind the simple pristine malleability of Yo La Tengo, Bela seems to have little interest in creating a similar artful dissonance. Still, Julia Kent, of Rasputina fame, occasionally uses the cello in ways similar to that of John Cale's viola, at times finding a screeching Velvet Underground spirit. However cohesive the musical vision remains throughout the 15 songs here, certain tracks, with the '60's spy movie feel of "Back in the Strip," almost resemble the strange Gregorian chant quality of the Yardbirds' more ambitious pop material. In the end, the unconventional and uncompromising sound most resembles a form of gothic chamber pop that is undeniably depressed, though certainly not depressing. If only all grunge had evolved into such a wonderful mutation. ~ Matt Fink, All Music Guide
Bio / Background
*** 1/2 Bela, 'Till Summer Ends (Mother West)
Most bands who travel the dark corridors of the soul have had a hard time defining their own space with in the castle of artsy gloom rock. Especially those from Manhattan, where Lou and crew's Velvet Underground created an enduring template for such music with their biting guitars and cello and cynic-eye view of the demi monde and the inner life. What sets the east village-based quartet Bela, whose name and mood draw on both Lugosi and Bartok, apart is the way they put a little more movement in their chord progressions, giving ex-Rasputina cellest Julia Kent a base for more expansive melodies. And there's an undeniably poetic allure to frontman Jeff Hogan's lyrics. But what makes Bela pop is Hogan's brilliant flourish for vocal harmonies. It's right out of the Hollies cannon - if the Hollies were depressives. So heartaches and hauntedpsyches rarely sound sweet as in these 14 tunes.
-Ted Drozdowski / The Boston Phoenix