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| The Black Belles 2011  |
666 Miles To Go
The name says soul sisters or Southern Gothic.
And, the heavily stylized look is the hook.
The Black Belles: black hats, black hair, black lipstick, black dresses.
The CD case photo album and lyrics sheets are Tim Burton-styled art and B&W shots of The Belles. The last one features the quartet brandishing hanging ropes, a knife, scissors and a saw.
Just don't get caught in the black fishnet alone. Because, musically, these ghouls flash sharp fangs.
They are the rock 'n' roll brides of the night to Jack White's Dracula.
And, the master has taught them well.
Ruby Rogers (bass), Olivia Jean (vocals, guitar, organ), Shelby Lynne (drums) and LiL' Boo (synth) know how to torture their instruments just right for staccato guitar screams, spooky organ backgrounds and squealing synthesizer sounds.
The bloodline is early B-52's when they were more guitar gang and less pop novelty, along with Last Splash-era Breeders and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs of 2001.
And, of course, there's plenty of Jack White siring. You can almost see him jumping from guitar to organ to synthesizer to show The Belles the right way to grab an audience by the throat.
Lyrically, Olivia Jean spins the playfully sexy bad girl/bad boy banter you would expect, with some tales ending better than others.
"I can't control my fate/I am in a cage," she confides on In A Cage. "How long must I wait/I am in a cage."
On The Tease, well, it's a tease: "Now pull him in real close - he'll flip out/Tell him that it was a joke then walk out."
Honky Tonk Horror ends badly for the boy who trades lies for love. Her gun's in the river. He's under the dirt. And, she's chanting "I've been a bad girl/I've been a bad girl/I want to be good again."
Unfortunately, The Black Belles haven't been much ringing since their debut release on Third Man Records. You can still find their page on the record company site, but the last traces of activity on their web site and Twitter account are nearly a year old.
Here's hoping Jackula brings these brides back; they need to be undead.
Song For The Soundtrack: Breathing Down My Neck
Running Data For Thursday, May 9:
3.01 Miles
32:11
Mileage In The Change Jar: 0.04 Miles
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