Remember that scene in Square Pegs (look it up on Wikipedia if you were born in the 80s), when the nerd girls (one of whom would go on to become the starring sexpot in Sex and the City) ask Johnny Slash if he’s a punk and he explains he’s “totally new wave”? Does anyone make that distinction anymore? If they did, then this Bellevue CD would be totally new wave, because the carnival keyboards and the singer’s disaffected drawl simply demand it. Whatever the origins of the term, new wave is the best way to describe that punk-era music made by art school students (as opposed to thugs and pseudo-thugs) who were sensitive enough to include girls in their bands. And keyboards. Subsequently, they were better dressed and had more interesting conversations. I’m not sure how Bellevue rank on the former, but they rate on the latter. (Terence Dick)
CD, Music Maul Industries, www.bellevuemusic.ca, www.musicmaulindustries.com