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When hearing the word ‘bella’ it’s nigh on impossible not to envisage libidinous Tuscan waiters trying it on with lonely divorcees from Rotherham after a good night on the vino on holiday . Well, it is to me anyway.
On the evidence of their first album for underrated local label Mint Records, it’s unlikely that the Vancouver-based three-piece of the same name are going to do anything to alter this. Looking like an even more humourless Ladytron, albeit with one less bloke, Bella make synthy indie-pop a la compatriots Pony Up, with just the faintest whiff of now ubiquitous new wave influences.
And on first spin, it’s pretty good. Punchy, sweet and catchy, it seems to tick all the right boxes. Listen a bit closer however, and the flaws are exposed as cruelly as Kevin Keegan’s lack of tactical footballing nous. Bella’s sole method of forming a chorus seems to involve writing a short line to include the song title (or just the title on its own will probably do) and repeat it until the listener begs for mercy.
Frankly it gets very dull, very quickly - particularly on the likes of Unless You’re Golden and Go, whose repetitive refrain includes the line “maybe you were too bored”. Nail hit squarely on the head, I’m afraid. When they drop the pace and infuse the likes of the title track and closer Didn’t Mean To Break Our Love with aching and longing, the trick just about works, but they’re an exception.
Their ultimate lack of songcraft proves to be a lead-weight around some otherwise decent joyful tunes. Camelot is so annoyingly simplistic it makes Swedish funsters I’m From Barcelona sound like a collective of Poet Laureates in comparison. What’s the Italian for ‘don’t really fancy yours much, mate?’
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