post-punk revival
Post-punk revival (also known as garage rock revival,J. Stuessy and S. D. Lipscomb, ''Rock and roll: its History and Stylistic Development'' (London: Pearson Prentice Hall, 5th edn., 2006), , p. 451. new wave revival,. and new rock revolution) is ...
band based in
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
, New York, composed of Nick Niles (vocals/keyboards/guitar), Greg Fasolino (guitar), Christopher Bollman (bass) and Todd Karasik (drums). The band's music was often categorized as a blend of atmospheric 1980s
post-punk
Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-roc ...
and
dream pop
Dream pop (also typeset as dreampop) is a subgenre of alternative rock and neo-psychedelia that emphasizes atmosphere and sonic texture as much as pop melody. Common characteristics include breathy vocals, dense productions, and effects such as ...
, and also encompassed elements of
shoegaze
Shoegaze (originally called shoegazing and sometimes conflated with "dream pop") is a subgenre of indie and alternative rock characterized by its ethereal mixture of obscured vocals, guitar distortion and effects, feedback, and overwhelming volu ...
,
indie rock
Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...
,
gothic rock
Gothic rock (also called goth rock or simply goth) is a style of rock music that emerged from post-punk in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s. The first post-punk bands which shifted toward dark music with gothic overtones include Siouxsie a ...
and new wave.
The band's primary influences included
the Chameleons
The Chameleons are an English rock band, formed in Middleton, Greater Manchester in 1981. The band's classic line-up consisted of lead vocalist and bassist Mark Burgess, guitarists Reg Smithies and Dave Fielding, and drummer John Lever.
Th ...
,
the Smiths
The Smiths were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1982. They comprised the singer Morrissey, the guitarist Johnny Marr, the bassist Andy Rourke and the drummer Mike Joyce. They are regarded as one of the most important acts to emerg ...
,
Radiohead
Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); brothers Jonny Greenwood (lead guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Greenwood (bass) ...
,
Cocteau Twins
Cocteau Twins was a Scottish rock band active from 1979 to 1997. They were formed in Grangemouth by Robin Guthrie (guitars, drum machine) and Will Heggie (bass), adding Elizabeth Fraser (vocals) in 1981 and replacing Heggie with multi-instrum ...
,
the Comsat Angels
The Comsat Angels were an English post-punk band (music), band from Sheffield, England, initially active from 1978 to 1995. Their music has been described as "abstract pop songs with sparse instrumentation, many of which were bleak and filled w ...
,
Slowdive
Slowdive is a British rock band that formed in Reading, Berkshire, in 1989. The band consists of Rachel Goswell on vocals and guitar, Neil Halstead on vocals and guitar, Christian Savill on guitar, Nick Chaplin on bass and Simon Scott on d ...
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' and ''
Vice
A vice is a practice, behaviour, or habit generally considered immoral, sinful, criminal, rude, taboo, depraved, degrading, deviant or perverted in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character tra ...
'' journalist Basim Usmani: "A lot of revival bands rely on a caricaturized impression of the decade they're apeing. That's why post-punk revival bands can leave me frustrated. They're a cliff notes version of a life-altering text. Bell Hollow is the next chapter in that text."
The band's songs and live show won over several publications, including ''
The Big Takeover
''The Big Takeover'' is a bi-annual music magazine published out of New York City since May 1980 by critic Jack Rabid.
History Establishment
Jack Rabid and Dave Stein began publishing ''The Big Takeover'' in May 1980 as a fanzine dedicated to N ...
'' (who said, "It's rare to find new music so heavy and yet so heavenly and light at the same time"), '' The Deli'', UK music journalist
Mick Mercer
Mick Mercer (born Bichael Bercer, 2 June 1957) is a journalist and author best known for his books, photos and reviews of the goth, punk and indie music scenes.
Life and work
Mercer is primarily a writer focused on the gothic scene and its m ...
and ''
New York Press
''New York Press'' was a free alternative weekly in New York City, which was published from 1988 to 2011.
The ''Press'' strove to create a rivalry with the ''Village Voice''. ''Press'' editors claimed to have tried to hire away writer Nat Hento ...
'' (who said, "Experience pays off with Bell Hollow, as the band brings a childish genre into adulthood"). ''Anti-Mag'' interviewed the band and proclaimed, "Beautifully delayed guitars reminiscent of a certain Mr. Smith, shining drums really caught my ear, and a heavenly voice radiated from the stage. I had found my childhood again."
Bell Hollow were interviewed on several New York radio stations, including
East Village Radio
East Village Radio (EVR), begun in August 2003, was an Internet radio station which broadcast from a storefront studio in the East Village of Manhattan, in New York City. Originally a pirate radio station broadcasting at 88.1 MHz, the st ...
and BreakThru Radio, playing live on the latter, as well as Detroit podcast ''Most People Are DJs''. Over the course of their three-year public career, Bell Hollow performed with
New Model Army
The New Model Army was a standing army formed in 1645 by the Parliamentarians during the First English Civil War, then disbanded after the Stuart Restoration in 1660. It differed from other armies employed in the 1639 to 1653 Wars of the Th ...
,
Bush Tetras
Bush Tetras are an American post-punk band from New York City, formed in 1979. They are best known for the 1980 song "Too Many Creeps", which exemplified the band's sound of "jagged rhythms, slicing guitars, and sniping vocals".Soundpool,
Robbers on High Street
Robbers on High Street were an American rock band from Brooklyn, New York, which formed in 2002. The band released three studio albums across their ten years together.
History
Robbers on High Street began performing publicly during the summer of ...
Longwave
In radio, longwave, long wave or long-wave, and commonly abbreviated LW, refers to parts of the radio spectrum with wavelengths longer than what was originally called the medium-wave broadcasting band. The term is historic, dating from the e ...
,
the Kominas
The Kominas are a punk rock band formed in 2005 by two Pakistani-Americans from Worcester, Massachusetts. In over ten years, the band has experienced a number of line-up changes and self-released albums.
Musical style
Their dance-oriented so ...
Lene Lovich
Lene Lovich (; born Lili-Marlene Premilovich; March 30, 1949) is an English-American singer, songwriter and musician. She first gained attention in 1979 with the release of her hit single "Lucky Number", which peaked at number 3 on the UK Single ...
,
Entertainment
Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and interest of an audience or gives pleasure and delight. It can be an idea or a task, but is more likely to be one of the activities or events that have developed over thousa ...
Bell Hollow was formed in 2003 by Fasolino and Bollman, both members of influential 1980s New York City outfit the Naked and the Dead, who had briefly reunited during 2002. They soon added drummer Hayden Millsteed (also a member of
Lubricated Goat
Lubricated Goat are an Australian noise rock band which originally formed in 1986 by multi-instrumentalist Stu Spasm. They achieved brief notoriety in November 1988 for appearing nude on the ABC TV program '' Blah Blah Blah'', wearing only thei ...
).
In 2005, singer Niles joined the band, filling out the sound and solidifying their direction. An initial four-song eponymous demo quickly garnered them local and European media attention.
Freshly signed to Five03 records in spring 2006, the band recorded their first EP, ''Sons of the Burgess Shale'', which was issued that October. Said
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
's Jo-Ann Greene: "If any reminder was needed of the incestuous relationship between post-punk, early new wave, goth, and later, shoegazers and dream poppers, Bell Hollow's ''Sons of the Burgess Shale'' EP provided a crucial primer. In the space of four songs, the band zapped the zeitgeist of heady days between punk's final funeral pyre and the phoenix-like rise to success from its ashes of the
New Romantic
The New Romantic movement was an underground subculture movement that originated in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s. The movement emerged from the nightclub scene in London and Birmingham at venues such as Billy's and The Blitz. The New ...
s". Tom Murphy of
Westword
''Westword'' is a free digital and print media publication based in Denver, Colorado. ''Westword'' publishes daily online coverage of local news, restaurants, music and arts, as well as longform narrative journalism. A weekly print issue cir ...
in
Denver
Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...
said, "While so many latter-day post-punk bands fall all over themselves trying to mimic the more danceable moments of a Gang of Four record, Bell Hollow chooses to embrace atmosphere and mood".
In late 2006, Karasik (formerly of New York
indie pop
Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and sub ...
band
My Favorite
My Favorite are an indie pop band formed in Long Island, New York in 1991, later of Brooklyn and Queens. After releasing two full-length albums, the original band split in 2005, but reformed in 2014.
Formation and original era
My Favorite form ...
, and also a member of
the Secret History
''The Secret History'' is the first novel by the American author Donna Tartt, published by Alfred A. Knopf in September 1992. Set in New England, the campus novel tells the story of a closely knit group of six classics students at Hampden Colleg ...
) replaced Millsteed. Their first performance with the new lineup was at the annual Winterfest arts festival at the Crane Arts Building in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
, promoted by InLiquid, who said, "The Bunnydrums were good, but Bell Hollow, in retrospect, stole the show".
The band recorded their first full-length record, ''Foxgloves'', at Water Music in
Hoboken
Hoboken ( ; Unami: ') is a city in Hudson County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 60,417. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program calculated that the city's population was 58,69 ...
during June 2007, with producer/engineer Hillary Johnson at the helm. Guest musicians on the album included Joshua Strawn of
Blacklist
Blacklisting is the action of a group or authority compiling a blacklist (or black list) of people, countries or other entities to be avoided or distrusted as being deemed unacceptable to those making the list. If someone is on a blacklist, t ...
playing acoustic guitar on the track "Eyes Like Planets", and Andrea Vaughn of My Favorite, performing backing vocals on "Getting On in Years." ''Foxgloves'' was released by Five03 in November 2007, to considerable acclaim. AllMusic called it "a mesmerizing album that will haunt listeners for years to come". The album made No. 18 on the list of "Best Rock, Electronic, & Folk Albums of the 2000s, Pt. 1" on ''CultureCatch'', whose Steve Holtje said, "There were lots of acts looking to the early '80s for inspiration, but few managed to do such a good job of drawing on that era's iconic sonic aspects without actually sounding like they were imitating particular bands".
Johnson soon became the band's live keyboard player (and eventually, manager).
Bell Hollow toured the Southeast and Midwest during 2008, including concerts in
New Orleans
New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...
,
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
,
Athens
Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...
Detroit
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
previewed the tour, with Chris Gerard saying, "''Foxgloves'' was clearly a labor of love - the songs are exquisitely crafted and expertly performed, and they all have real feeling and drive...producing a record that appeals both to die-hard post-punk aficionados still pining for that rare Chameleons 45 that they lost in their parents basement 25 years ago, as well as a new generation of fans who are under the delusion that
the Killers
The Killers are an American rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingd ...
' kinetic new-wave sound is original".
In the summer of 2008, Bell Hollow signed with online music purveyors
RCRD LBL
RCRD LBL was a website for free, curated, and legal MP3 downloads from emergent artists.
RCRD LBL was launched in 2007 by Josh Deutsch, Peter Rojas
Peter Rojas (born March 18, 1975) is the co-founder of technology blogs Gizmodo and Engadget, a ...
, releasing five free remixes from Project Jenny, Project Jan; hip hop producer/remixer Phofo;
Nine Inch Nails
Nine Inch Nails, commonly abbreviated as NIN and stylized as NIИ, is an American industrial rock band formed in Cleveland in 1988. Singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Trent Reznor was the only permanent member of the band ...
remixer Halo33; Cruel Black Dove; and Peter Du Charme (aka Master Cylinder, of "Jung at Heart" fame). The five remixes were packaged with three outtakes as a digital-only EP, ''Foxgloves Extras'', released by Five03 in December 2008.
Vocalist Niles departed in December 2008, and in February 2009, Bell Hollow formally announced its dissolution, citing his departure as the reason. Fasolino resurfaced with project the Harrow, who released an eponymous EP in 2013 and the ''Silhouettes'' album in 2015. Karasik formed the Chandler Estate with Vaughn and other former My Favorite members, releasing the ''Infrastructure" EP in 2016.
In popular culture
"Copper Crayon (Project Jenny, Project Jan Remix)" was featured in the "Dating" episode of
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
television series ''
Kath & Kim
''Kath & Kim,'' (also written as ''Kath and Kim'') is an Australian sitcom created by Jane Turner and Gina Riley, who portray the title characters of Kath Day-Knight, a cheery, middle-aged suburban mother, and Kim, her self-indulgent daughter ...
*''Bell Hollow'' demo CDR (2005, self-released)
*''Sons of the Burgess Shale'' CD (2006, Five03 Records)
*''Foxgloves Extras'' digital (2008, Five03 Records)
Singles
*"Copper Crayon (Project Jenny, Project Jan Remix)" digital (2008,
RCRD LBL
RCRD LBL was a website for free, curated, and legal MP3 downloads from emergent artists.
RCRD LBL was launched in 2007 by Josh Deutsch, Peter Rojas
Peter Rojas (born March 18, 1975) is the co-founder of technology blogs Gizmodo and Engadget, a ...
)
*"Eyes Like Planets (Halo 33 Remix)" digital (2008, RCRD LBL)
*"Getting On in Years (Phofo Remix)" digital (2008, RCRD LBL)
*"Lowlights (Cruel Black Dove Remix)" digital (2008, RCRD LBL)
*"The Bottle Tree (Peter Du Charme Remix)" digital (2008, RCRD LBL)
*"Jamais Vu (The Harrow Remix)" digital (2009, The Harrow)
Compilation appearances
*"Contact" ( The Prids cover) on ''Dots to Connect: The Music of the Prids'' digital (2009, Five03 Records)
*"The Bottle Tree" on ''Gothic Compilation 43'' CD (2009, Bat Believer/Audioglobe)