Bel Air – Pole to Pole

For years, it seemed as though it was the louder, more rocking bands that garnered the majority of attention and buzz from indie-kids and the music media in general (see: grunge, or the recent “garage-rock” revival with the Strokes, or even the alleged “reinvention” of rock by Radiohead, Beck and/or The White Stripes, etc…).  With that said, in recent times we are seeing a shift in the wave of notoriety away from the many rearrangements of rock’s past to some of the quieter, sensitive and even brooding bands of today.  Bands such as Iron & Wine, Swell Season, Fleet Foxes and Bon Iver are some absolutely shining examples of acts that throw lyrics that read like classic literature, aching melodies, soft harmonies and relatively sparse arrangements and production into a pot and whip up some pretty amazing concoctions that seem to usher in a new form of Folk that most silver-haired folkies are likely not ready for.

Bel Air, from Brooklyn also bring much of the “Neo-Folk” vibe to the table with their debut CD, Pole to Pole and even expand the formula with a rootsy swagger.  The album features lead vocals that seamlessly alternate between Jeffrey Mensch and Allie Langerak.  Most of the cuts posses quiet and sometimes fragile arrangements of acoustic guitar and soft percussion. Even the occasional sax and violin creep gently in to lend the disc a sense of diversity that your typical Folk (neo, freak, or any other kind of “folk”) record may not have.  Similar to Iron & Wine and the others I mentioned before, Bel Air isn’t looking to make a specific type of album as far as category or genre is concerned.  Their influences range from Indie to Brit-Pop and those are all evident here. 

With most albums that feature multiple lead singers, I tend to find myself leaning in a specific direction towards a favorite side (sorry Patterson, I seem to dig more of Cooley’s DBT stuff).  In the case of Pole to Pole, I find myself favoring the tracks where the Mensch has lead duties, even though I tend to prefer the more rustic, almost Dido-like vocals of Langerak.  Hopefully you get the notion that this is a solid and even disc, and it doesn’t suffer from the inconsistent, up and down nature of many discs that feature the dual vocal lead.

Tracks such as “Need to Believe” and “This City, Pt. 2″ both contain elements fo folk and pop and even veer into “Alt-Country” territory without feeling contrived or cliched.  The production of Pole to Pole proves to be as valuable of an instrument as the acoustic guitar on the disc.  The relatively clean, yet raw vibe of the disc truly does provide the listener with the feeling of listening in on a group of talented friends hanging out with some guitars, a stocked cooler and perhaps even a recording machine that just happens to be running in order to document the proceedings.