The BellRays - Hard Sweet and Sticky (2008)

After all these years, one would think the BellRays would be getting a bit stale by now. Sure, over time their sound has shifted, but even so, how long can you trot out the same brew without it going flat? Forever, if Hard, Sweet and Sticky is anything to go by. Long ago, the band's sizzling mix of rock, soul, and punk was pretty novel, now as classic rock rampages across the waves, soul storms up the chart, and punk is reborn yet again, the music world has finally caught up with the group. Today the BellRays sound as fresh as daisies, and if you'd never previously heard their name, you could easily assume they formed only a year or so ago. That's not merely due to the repopularizing of all the elements that feed into the BellRays' sound, but the group's obvious delight in still delivering it. The album bristles with energy, especially on the driving punk rock of "Psychotic Hate Man" and "One Big Party," the coursing "That's Not the Way It Should Be," the classic rock "Infection," the hard rocking Stooge-esque "Coming Down," and the anthemic "Pinball City," a number that rolls up rock, punk, and R&B in one neat package. Interspersed between all those heavy-hitters are softer numbers that range from the '60s R&B-styled "Blue Against the Sky" to the steamy jazz of the showstopping torch song "Wedding Bells" and the lite funk-soul of "The Fire Next Time." And singer Lisa Kekaula is on fire across this set -- she's at her most sophisticated on "Bells" and most soulful on "Sky," and belts it out like a rocker on "Way." Her performances are phenomenal throughout, with the entire album a testament to her power and ferocious talent. The rest of the bandmembers sound just as good, tight as a cork in a wine bottle, but bringing a joie de vivre to everything they play. With a mere flick of a wrist, guitarist Bob Vennum can evoke an entire genre or age, a trick the rhythm section can also perform at will, while being equally at home with the slash-and-bash rockers as with the gentler numbers. A stunning set, and one that should help take this long-running band into the big time once and for all.~Hard, Sweet and Sticky Review by Jo-Ann Greene