The Bellrays

Almost exactly a year after they last came to Australia on the back of a rep as one of the best live bands in the world, the Bellrays are back for another March tour. So it's safe to say they enjoyed themselves last time? "Oh yeah, we had a really, really, really good time," bassist Bob Vennum says emphatically as soon as the subject is brought up. Audiences did too, as they do at just about every Bellrays show, which has led to a reputation that seems to precede them wherever they go.

It's not too hard to understand, though, once Vennum outlines the band's approach to playing live. "If a band goes out to play live, they oughtta just kick your ass- it oughtta be something that just couldn't be on a record, you know, in any way shape or form. You can't put in on video, you can't put it on anything, you have to be there to see it and that's the way we've always wanted it."

But while a killer live show has helped earned The Bellrays a rep, they still put out records consistently - in fact, their 8th album, 'Hard, Sweet & Sticky' has just been released. One thing that the band has definitely learned since the early days of recording, however, is that its live show can't be translated perfectly to record. "I've always looked at it as two completely separate things," Vennum explains - "we were putting a lot of energy into making [the group's first] albums so that just sounded like our live show, and they don't."

It's not an accusation that is likely to be levelled at 'Hard, Sweet & Sticky', an energetic collection of hard-driving Detroit rock riffs propelled by frontwoman Lisa Kekaula, who bears more than a slight resemblance to Tina Turner, especially on tracks like Psychotic Hate Man. What distances this latest release form these early efforts, though, is the willingness of the producers to hold the band in tight check, keeping the songs shot and punchy without any extraneous material, and including a surprising number of slower tunes that at times veer into ballad territory.

It's a sound that suits the band, enough so that it will stick with this method in the future. "I've always thought that it's two completely different arenas." Vennum once again asserts - "no matter if you record a live record, it's still a completely differently visceral experience when you're there and see them live as opposed to listening to that same recording. I've never been able to connect the two - I've always thought a record is a record, it's its own thing that you experience on your own - wherever you're listening to it, in the road, in the car or in the bedroom, or whatever - that's the experience you have listening to that. Live, you know, you're in there, you're sweating, you're breathing smoke, you're doing all that stuff, you're taking all of that in."

And there's plenty to take in at a Bellrays show, which is always in a state of flux, exploring new ways to make it memorable for the crowd -"they may not even realise it, but they're going to get tired of hearing the same sounds continuously" Vennum says of the audience, and he tries to avoid this with "experimentation, just sort of being free and letting the conversation happen - sometimes you want to yell, sometimes you want to speak quietly, sometimes you want to talk a lot, sometimes you just want to listen, that's what we try to do."

This idea of a dialogue, a give and take between the band members, also extends to the audience - while the band is there to put on a hell of a show, the members also expect some input from anyone along for the ride. "Oh yeah, it's a conversation between the members and between the audience. It's not just for the audience to sit and watch us talk to each other; it goes out to them too, they're a part of it. If you're at a sporting thing and the guy kicks the goal, and wins the game or whatever, if the crowd doesn't cheer, he loses the momentum; it's not as good for him."

And if there's enough cheering, chances are The Bellrays, led by frontwoman Lisa Kekaula, will put on a show energetic to put any sports star to shame.

Alexis Buxton-Collins

The Bellrays play at Fowler's Live on Wed 19 Mar.

'Hard, Sweet & Sticky' is out now through Shock