The Bellrays’ calling card has always been Lisa Kekaula’s soul sista vocals, which rage madly over Stooges-inspired pre-punk grooves. It’s an unbeatable combination: something like Aretha Franklin filling in for Iggy Pop. And while Kekaula gets wild with “Psychotic Hate Man” on the new Hard Sweet and Sticky, she actually impresses most via the album’s mellower material. One called “Wedding Bells,” for instance, reveals Kekaula to be quite the capable jazz diva; then, during the equally jazzy “Blue against the Sky,” she sings over calming electric guitar jazz chords. Kekaula then gets all sultry with “The Fire Next Time,” which takes a Biblical phrase and turns it into a description of romantic longing. With a groovy, soulful, echoing electric guitar part as her accompaniment, she asks: “If I was me ant to burn for you/And you to burn for me/Are we just smoke for all eternity?” The Bellrays end Hard Sweet and Sticky with the noisy “Pinball City,” which arrives complete with backing “Hey!” shouts during the verses. Perhaps this is a reminder of this act’s internal combustion because the band clearly has more than enough raw power to spare. But this time out at least, The Bellrays please most with its relatively untapped power of restraint.
-- Dan MacIntosh [August 9, 2008]
