Bell X1 lead singer Paul Noonan makes the following lyrical demands on upcoming release Blue Lights on the Runway: (1) he wants to make a new world or word order, and he wants to make it rhyme (2) he wants George to tell him about those rabbits (3) he wants to be a better band and possibly a better man (though Eddie Vedder called this one first) and (4) he wants to shoot fire from his hand like some kind of human fire-flower. Oddly enough, if taken literally, his third demand is the one that seems most irrational here and more than a little self-depreciating.
We may be nubes to the Bellies’ brand of Brian Eno-infused, occasionally electronic, Euro-pop and Noonan may be trying to kick some sort of life-claustrophobia via the demand in question (see: “A Better Band”), but these Irish men have already pretty much stirred our souls with that great big stick of theirs, which kind of looks like an ore (see: “The Great Defector”). Meaning it’s difficult to imagine this band better. Of course, these fangirls’ hearts have always been hard-wired for any music that feeds their “where did all the good bands go?!” bitchin’ (so there’s no need to start cutting their red and blue wires. They need those. See: “How Your Heart is Wired”).
What this means is that Bell X1 channels the best of the Talking Heads, James and Ireland’s original big-hitters, U2 (they were even called Ireland’s best band by Vanity Fair, though we doubt anyone’s bothered to run this by Bono), and that, we really don’t know how to kick the “heady glow” of this bloody-fine discovery.
But we do know it makes for a good buzz, and, if we keep listening, Blue Lights and Bell X1 will keep feeding that above-mentioned need (and likely, yours too, once the words playing on your stereo start to swim). That’s the beauty of “time’s great elixir.”
At times comical, asking that mysterious man named George about those equally mysterious rabbits, and at other times dramatically dark, waxing worrisome on this mad, mad world, but always brainy, the band’s lyrical tastes are seemingly reflective of the Psychedelic Furs (sorry, an obvious pun about those bunny references). But, seriously, the Bellies’ lyrical tastes are highly reflective of their affinity for evolution; they even played bar mitzvahs and wedding parties before gaining popularity on the telly and touring with such artists as Bon Jovi and the late Elliott Smith (which resulted in a “big hair, small music identity crisis,” as the band’s bio reports).
Article comments
1 - Alejandro Rubio
Nice :)
2 - lad
Just a guess but i think that the 'tell us about those rabbits George' is a reference to the novel 'of mice and men' by John Steinbeck, where Lennie asks George to tell him about the rabbits!
3 - Jessica and Kady Bell
Thank you for commenting, you're right. . .but we do get to that at the end of the article!