Bell Hollow were a post-punk revival band based in Brooklyn, 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 and dream pop, and also encompassed elements of shoegaze, indie rock, gothic rock and new wave.
The band's primary influences included the Chameleons, the Smiths, Radiohead, Cocteau Twins,
the Comsat Angels, Slowdive, the Sound and Echo & the Bunnymen. Said The Guardian and Vice 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."
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). 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,[8] the band recorded their first EP, Sons of the Burgess Shale, which was issued that October.
Said AllMusic'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 Romantics". Tom Murphy of Westword in Denver 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".
The band recorded their first full-length record, Foxgloves, at Water Music in Hoboken during June
2007, with producer/engineer Hillary Johnson at the helm. Guest musicians on the album included Joshua Strawn of Blacklist playing acoustic guitar on the track "Eyes Like Planets", and Andrea Vaughn of My Favorite, performing backing vocals on "Getting On in Years."
LINE - UP
Christopher Bollman - bass (2003-2008)
Greg Fasolino - guitar (2003-2008)
Hayden Millsteed - drums (2003-2006)
Nick Niles - vocals, keyboards, guitar (2005-2008)
Todd Karasik - drums (2006-2008)
FOXGLOVES REVIEW (BY 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 Romantics. The band's full-length follow-up Foxgloves is a bit more finely focused, as the quartet prune away some of the stray musical branches (rockabilly, funk, and the artier homages among them), to better showcase the soul of the age -- the blindingly beautiful morose atmospheres.
A shimmering shadow even darkens the sublimely infectious "Copper Crayon," a lust-themed song that channels both the spirits of Vince Ely-era Depeche Mode and Faith era Cure. And the Cure's specter
haunts this set, rattling around the brittle atmosphere of the delicate "Eyes Like Planets," and looming in the shadows of "Lowlights," a song spun with Pornography's heavy atmosphere as it journeys musically into the abyss. In contrast, songs like "Jamais Vu," "Storm's End," and "The Bottle Tree" all explore dark dance, the propulsive rhythms juxtaposed against droning guitars, evocative melody, and a throbbing bassline, respectively.
"Getting on in Years" slots neatly into this section, even as it dips into the Smiths territory, a realm
further explored on the glorious "Seven Sisters." The deft sequencing mirrors an eclipse, gradually moving the set into darkness, the brighter, lighter, opening numbers dissipating as the album progresses. As always, the lyrics are wonderfully obscure, the imagery captivating, their meanings allegorical and marvelously malleable. The music, meanwhile, is magnificent, the melodies powerful, while the moods are impossible to shake long after the final note is played. A mesmerizing album that will haunt listeners for years to come.
Bell Hollow – Foxgloves
Label: Five03 – F03 BH02
Format: CD, Album
Country: US
Released: 2007
Genre: Rock
Style: New Wave, Shoegaze, Post-Punk
TRAXS
01. Seven Sisters 4:07
02. Our Water Burden 3:40
03. Foxgloves 5:06
04. Copper Crayon 3:22
05. Eyes Like Planets 4:40
Acoustic Guitar – Josh Strawn/Backing Vocals – Andrea Vaughn
06. Jamais Vu 3:51
07. Getting On In Years 3:39
Backing Vocals – Andrea Vaughn, Johnny Quinlan
08. Storm's End 4:49
09. The Bottle Tree 3:09
10. Lowlights 5:27
BONUS TRAXS From FOXGLOVES EXTRAS
11. Peru 4:58
12. Late At Night 2:45
13. Throw Me 4:43
14. Contact 4:19
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