Bella Lea? Hella Yee-ah!

Wow.

Let me start by saying Tim Kasher is great. The Good Life is awesome (and Cursive is pretty damn tight). Let me go on by mentioning that The Velvet Teen is also a quite a decent act. However, Saturday night was about much more than two above-average bands playing the digs in Potrero Hill. It was even much more than the swanky Mesh soiree bangin' in Hayes Valley. No, Saturday night was about rekindling fires. It was less about the busy streets of a city alive, and more about the ventricles of this young man's beating heart.

Let me explain this melodramatically emo tune this blog has taken. Saturday night I "re-connected" with a love that never died. The light grew dimmer and flickered but was never fully extinguished. This devotion exists only for R-Va-er (lingo for Richmond, VA... Helen is too down) Maura Davis, former sullen-eyed chanteuse for Denali, a band I hearted so dearly from their conception and signing to Jade Tree records until their demise almost a year ago.

Fortunately, Maura ("Can I call you Maura, or should I just stick to Ms. Davis?") wasted no time and formed her new outfit Bella Lea with former members of Pinebender, Joan of Arc and Euphone. Bella Lea seems like a natural extension of Denali: moody melodies, atmospheric textures, noisy guitars and of course the piercingly beautiful voice of Ms. Davis.

Having last seen Denali at Noisepop 2004 (with the Velvet Teen opening coincidentally), my heart raced and my love for Bella Lea grew more fervent with every note. In my pathetic mind, I imagine Ms. Davis roping me back in. "You need to stop picking daisies with Nedelle's pop-folk. Turn your back to Feist's swanky lounge vibe. And don't even get me started on how you look like a damn fool dancing to Emily Haines' Metric. Let's get sad. Bella Lea will let you get some real moping on," she would whisper. And then I would comply... like I already have. Don't worry it's only a three song demo I have. Just wait until they put out a full length, then you can see what kind of shoegazing this guy can do.



Bella Lea is currently working on an EP and is continuing to tour with The Good Life. Their demos can currently be heard on Myspace Music. If you are not member of Myspace, consider yourself lucky, and utterly uncivilized. Savages.

Bella Lea (on Myspace.com): http://www.myspace.com/bellalea