There is something absolutely fantastic for me about the music from the Scandinavian peninsula. It’s not just the astronomical number of interesting artists and releases for every taste, as if every second person in the Nordic countries is a rock musician. The Vikings and their neighbors have some special understanding of how to live in joy under cold gray skies. Mike Bell‘s Lightning Bolt album, released in August 2024, belongs to such a special northern interpretation of authentic rockabilly.
Miikka Siirra was born in August 1979 in the town of Hameenlinnae, in southern Finland. Having started his rockabilly career as a solo artist, by 2008 Miikka became a more concise Mike, and assembled his quartet The Belltones, moving to Helsinki. Since then, Mike Bell and The Belltones have become a jewel in the crown of the European rockabilly scene. During this time, they have recorded four, including the current one, a full-length album and nine eps. Among them, the joint work with the legendary Hulin Duval, released in 2011, is particularly interesting.
The band’s fourth LP is designed in the same authentic corporate style. The sound has become even more desiccated, completely mimicking a historical artifact. Timo, Ikku and Yuppie (may they forgive me for such a transcription!) play without any pretense, without losing the necessary drive: a hot heart and a cold head. The rhythm section is full of Yuppie and Ikku, well-coordinated and moderately assertive. Timo’s lead guitar sounds condescending in places, like a strict but fair teacher watching teenagers making noise. The same teenage spirit is most evident in Mike’s rhythm guitar. There is something rebellious about simple acoustics!
This is a special authenticity, quite different, for example, from the groovy The Wise Guyz and The Mars Attacks. Filled with the coolness of a thousand lakes, I can probably compare the sound of Belltones with our native Neva River Rockets and The Diamond Hand. It’s something at the level of feeling when you find a way to escape from adversity and the icy wind in a small safe space. And music from other times and places is a weak but reliable source of warmth here.
If you turn down the degree of poetics, then this is a classic muffled cozy lump of music that turns any reproducing device into a radio. And this time I want to dance around this radio, even if it’s a little melancholic.
Bare Bone Boogie sets the desired space-time continuum from the first notes. This is a very nice miniature bottle opener, which makes you want to roll up your sleeves and stick a Lucky Strike cigarette from a soft pack behind your left ear.
The second track of Lightning Bolt is not so conservative anymore, with a quote from Walk Don’t Run by The Ventures and the appearance of keyboards in the arrangement. Overall, I think it’s the right decision to put this song in the title. There is something catchy about this strange symbiosis of surf and the traditional sound of the 50s. The next couple of tracks, The Gambler and Slowly Killin’ Me sounds much more moderate and carries a characteristic narrative load, about bad and attractive things.
Then Fussin’ & Fightin’ gives a little shake, like a breath of fresh air outside the bar. And side A ends with the most pleasant When the Night Comes, like a memory of a glorious weekend evening.
The second side of the album opens with the measured and soothing Bright Lights. This is literally my second favorite thing from the band, along with Dark Side Of The Moon from the Payback album. It was for this bright sadness that I fell in love with them. The calm rhythm rocks the listener like a child in the cradle, and the roll call of guitar and keyboards whispers thoughts of the eternal. This song is like the way home.
However, it’s still early! Riot Rhythm brings us back to the metaphorical dance floor, and Key to Your Heart sets a rather romantic mood for these movements.
Then the melancholy of Your Lovin’ On My Mind takes over again, in which the solo guitar somehow occupies a special place: at times the notes look like drops of rare rain. Holy Land sounds quite life-affirming, somewhat reminiscent of When the Saints Come Marching In.
Next, Make With The Shake, which is straight as an arrow, makes us move again, continuing this trend in Knock Knock. In the latter, the drum breaks are particularly pleasing. And, with a hint of Train Kept A-Rollin, the record ends with I Wanna Go: a kind of quintessence of everything we’ve heard before.
That’s all, actually. Lightning Bolt is a very solid rockabilly album. Very neat, polite, no frills. A kind of dream capsule. This album was released in August 2024 as Mike’s birthday present to his listeners and to himself. And this is the last work of the team. In September 2024, Mike Bell, at the age of 45, went to Rock and Roll Heaven.
Mike’s work has always reminded me of Buddy Holly’s romance, only more mature and moderate. It will remain that way forever. May this humble record keep us all warm in the cold winter.
