The Bell Crooks - The Sonic Fudge EP

The Bell Crooks

​The Sonic Fudge EP
self-released; 2015

3.6 out of 5

By Mike Przygoda
​

The Sonic Fudge EP by The Bell Crooks is a good album that is played and sung very well.  The songs are well written and span a variety of genres.

“SPR” opens the EP with a sneaky unison guitar and bass riff ascending and descending in a bluesy way. There’s a touch of Black Keys in the production, but if Rob Zombie was the vocalist.   The song moves fairly seamlessly through several feel and tempo changes from the laid back initial groove to a double-time stomp under the chorus and rapid-fire guitar attack. The song is executed well, though some melodic or lyrical variety from the verse to the chorus could add more of a hook.

“Mind Tricks” features dueling guitar lines that complement each other in their accompaniment as well as a prominent bass line that propels the song along. Here, the band has a good hook in the vocal melody and it makes the chorus quite catchy. There is an abrupt shift to an almost Genesis-acoustic-guitar-era-prog feel. It’s sudden and definitely calls attention to itself.  The transition out of the section is much smoother and really helps build up the final choruses, which burst with energy.

“Act III: Chase Scene” begins with a Ventures-like spy-guitar motif. The song does a good job playing off of the genre before the chorus hits which becomes much more Pearl Jam-esque in the vocal delivery and harmonic structure. It’s very catchy and develops well from section to section. The instrumental feature near the end transforms the song into a hard stoner rock groove wit driving bass and wah-ed out guitar playing against the aggressive snare rolls. It’s a great groove and it’s well earned by the rest of the song.

“Rumination” is based around a melancholic guitar line decorated by chime-y countermelodies from another guitar. The mellow minor groove is a nice contrast on the EP from the previous songs and showcases a much more gentle and emotional vocal delivery. The drums have some great simple tom work in the pre-chorus that stacks upon itself before releasing into a wall of buzzing guitars in the chorus. The song has a good arc, never peeking too early and able to ride crashing waves of emotion.

The EP closes with “Gone Away” which features acoustic guitar, slide guitar, ukulele, electric piano and organ. It’s very mellow and leans more towards an Americana type of vibe than the bluesy garage rock that had been established. It’s a pretty song, and well written though a curious choice to close the EP making it feel like an anomaly, perhaps belonging to another album or project.  Placing it earlier in the tracklisting may showcase some of the variety of the songwriting, which is quite good rather than having it as an outlier. That said, it’s very catchy, introspective, and well executed.

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