Stream: The Cold and Lovely, ‘Ellis Bell’
Kevin Bronson on
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If Los Angeles trio the Cold and Lovely seem determined to take their efforts out of the realm of “side project,” their “Ellis Bell” EP succeeds in a big way. Owing to the muscular shoegazers and arena-hopping anthemic rockers of the 1990s, the three-piece follows up last year’s self-titled LP with an audacious six-pack of songs made to be played ear-bleedingly loud. The music took shape between the members’ other commitments – the Cold and Lovely are fronted by singer-guitarist-producer Meghan Toohey (the Weepies, Lenka, Schuyler Fisk), who along with bassist Nicole Fiorentino (Smashing Pumpkins, Veruca Salt, Spinnerette) and drummer Patty Schemel (Hole, Imperial Teen, Juliette and the Licks) fashioned the songs on which mixer Dave Cooley put the finishing touches. Fans of My Bloody Valentine, Pale Saints, Curve and U2 will want to take note. As Toohey says, “I dug really deep into albums that changed my life. … I tried to pinpoint what I loved about the guitar tones and production. I wanted there to be a grit to this record that I hadn’t truly expressed the way I wanted to on the first record.” Mission accomplished. The EP is out Sept. 24.
||| Stream: “Ellis Bell” and “Blue in Green Again”
||| Live: The Cold and Lovely play Oct. 3 at the Bootleg Bar.
Photo by Jess Tosoc
[…] duo the Cold and Lovely made a huge statement with 2013′s “Ellis Bell,” an EP that embraced the arena-sized alt-rock of the 1990s and was embraced by many who remember it. […]