Bell Argosy
The Wreck of Bell Argosy
Donkey Town Records [2012]
Donkey Town Records [2012]
From the awkward shipwreck cover art, to the crudely drawn comic-strip liner notes, to the post-it submission note beginning with "Hey Jeff!" (what am I? Chopped livah?) I really wanted to dislike this record. And I did upon my first listen. Alright, it's the kind of dime-a-dozen lo-fi garage-y "pop" that's so hideously popular with the kids today. But once I flipped the 45 the song "Yer Business" gave me pause, it's kind of…fun? From there I come to find that the aforementioned comic-strip was written/drawn by chief creative force, Billy Lopez and is kind of a charming little tale of perserverence in the face of age/laziness/and (if the drawing is in any way anatomically correct) advanced conjunctivitis. But it endeared me to this recording in a very real way. Subsequent listens, free of cynicism, revealed the torn-up, sunglassed, rambling bar band camouflaged by my trend-weary prejudices. I can fully recommend picking up one of the other 199 copies of The Wreck of The Bel Argosy - or you can just go see them, they're probably playing right down the street to five people and enduring every minute of it.
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