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Modern conventions of music labeling do not apply to “200 Lucky Feet Move The Dragon,” the latest offering from the Bellyachers. A complex recording, “200 Lucky Feet” is a place where the nuances of lush orchestral pop rub shoulders with infectious classic rock hooks, where the angular pulse of ‘80s new wave grinds on the dance floor with finely-tuned song craft and where progressive rock canoodles with forget-me-not country shuffles.
The Bellyachers are Sandra Mello (vocals, bass), Brian Mello (vocals, guitar), Melody Baldwin (vocals, guitar), and Peter Craft (drums, recording engineer). In part, their latest work hails from having their own full-fledged recording studio, which they built from the ground up over the course of six sweaty, dusty months. Before the paint was even dry, they settled in to record. An ambitious undertaking, to be sure, but not surprising from a band that has already self-produced two full-length recordings, books and finances its own tours, and designs its own posters, merch, album art and website (a finalist in the SXSW Web Awards).
Sonically, this is a layered yet spacious recording. Produced by the band and engineered by drummer Peter Craft, great swirling soundscapes are conjured in bright cinematic colors that shift from song to song like the blurred visions of a road trip. The vocals are impassioned, the guitars growl and twist, and the drums range from thundering to distant punctuations.“
The topics are as varied as the sound: songs about the randomness of good fortune, religion in politics, crumbling relationships, unquestioning love, the absurdity of the human condition, failed suicide as spiritual breakthrough, traffic fatalities and tedium, and Buddhist meditations on the merits of diving when one falls.
The band's maverick spirit is fueled by equal parts passion and realism, by the keen desire to make good music and the knowledge that waiting around for a label deal is counter-productive. Recording “200 Lucky Feet” in their own studio gave the Bellyachers the freedom to experiment and explore and the breathing room to work when the workin' was good and walk away when it just wasn't happening. The result is a recording that rules out nothing and risks everything, that defies pigeon-holing and defines the Bellyachers on their own terms. Safe to say, they wouldn't have it any other way. |
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