The Bell – Make Some Quiet Review
The Bell is an indie Swedish band with influences such as Echo & The Bunny Men and Joy Division. You could argue many newer bands use this influence in the post-punk revival genre BUT The Bell stays true to their influences that it feels nostalgic and if you told me this band was from the 80s I’d believe you.
Usually when I think of Swedish bands, either you think of Scandinavian metal or indie pop (from the likes of Peter, Bjorn and John + Shout Out Louds). It was definitely refreshing hearing a small band like The Bell. This band is basically the 2000’s version of Echo & The Bunnymen using a drum a machine and I swear Mathias Stromberg sounds like Ian McCulloch which I find more of a great thing. The only other thing is probably the mix of poppy sounds used by synthesizers which give a Joy Division feel.
“Make Some Quiet” hits the US on February 12, 2008 and luckily for me I was given a review copy. I wouldn’t instinctively call The Bell a pop band but a lot of their songs do deal with love and a lot of the songs do end up being catchy. However there’s just so much to each song that makes The Bell so kick-ass (I was going to say wonderful but I needed something strong). Genre wise, classifying them as post-punk revival seems kind poor on my side of things. Make Some Quiet musically can be whatever it wants to be as each song shows something different from awesome guitar riffs to catchy bass lines. Stromberg has a rather a deep voice but it’s not the type that bores you as he knows when to bring his voice higher when he sings “On and On It Breaks My Heart” on the song On and On. With the numerous guitar riffs throughout each song, great lyrics/singing and overall the diversity that The Bell displays on Make Some Quiet, this is an amazing album to listen to.
I should probably digress on on the band comparisons as this band sets itself apart by being incredibly diverse. You’d think as an album it would be tiresome but this one is just so entertaining and it keeps getting better and better as I keep playing it with new favorites emerging.
The Bell currently stands as a smaller band with only 11,000 myspace hits, they definitely deserve a lot more respect. At this time, I would say a review is not important, rather if you like this band, support them any way you can. If you care I would say it’s a 4.5 out of 5.
Here are some of my favorites off this album:
Never Had To Pay Before by The Bell
Pre-Order Make Some Quiet @ Amazon
Tags: album review, Sweden, The Bell