Does the world really need more accordion-wielding upstarts who’ve spent too much time worshipping at t he altars of Tom Waits and Gogol Bordello? Actually, it might.
Bella’s Bartok show all the warning signs: corrugated vocals, Balkan beats, vaudevillian theatricality. But beneath the gypsy-revivalist trappings, Asher Putnam and his fellow New Englanders may be onto something more interesting.
Over the course of two albums and an EP, they’ve shown a knack for bait-and-switch, horn-and-harmony-driven arrangements that are nearly as unpredictable as Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody.” Punk, pop, ska, Celtic soul, klezmer, circus music — they do it all, whether you want them to or not, and you most likely will.
Putnam’s flamboyant vocal style — think Dexys Midnight Runners’ Kevin Rowland, except with a sense of humor — is the perfect foil for an idiosyncratic ensemble that can transcend its own shtick and have fun doing it.
Speaking of...
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Steampunk purveyors Abney Park on burning calliopes and Victorian sci-fi
Dec 11, 2019 -
Natalie MacMaster & Donnell Leahy’s “A Celtic Family Christmas” preview
Dec 11, 2019 -
Jesse Dayton at The Bluebird Theater and Larimer Lounge show preview
Dec 11, 2019 -
Lettuce graduate from music-school dropouts to first-time Grammy nominees
Dec 4, 2019 -
Phil Vassar & Lonestar at the Pikes Peak Center show preview
Dec 4, 2019 -
Bill Frisell & Julian Lage Duo at the Ent Center for the Arts show preview
Dec 4, 2019 - More »
Slayer and co. leave Colorado Springs thrashed and happy
Tool at the Pepsi Center, Oct. 2019
Ghost, Nothing More rock the Broadmoor World Arena
Raconteurs at the Mission Ballroom
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