I’m happy to devote my first review of 2012 to the band Bel Air. It would be easy to dismiss them as another Bandcamp band, but they’re not like all the rest. The songs are written with care and attention to detail, and the music backs the vocals with delicate accents and emphasis. Allison Langerak’s voice on “Dark Days,” the lead cut off this EP, has traces of the Americana-twinged longing you might hear in Margo Simmons’ work with The Cowboy Junkies. But then, in “The Long Fall,” Jeff Mensch takes the mike for a song that could hold its own against some of Wilco’s more traditional songs.
You can stream/buy Fall via Bandcamp, where you’ll also find EPs for the other seasons of 2011. It’s worth your time.
Plus, they’re from Brooklyn!
Stream “Dark Days” below.
http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/v=2/album=3253167654/size=venti/bgcol=FFFFFF/linkcol=4285BB/
