ESSENTIAL!
Jumping in a little deeper to the Ever/Never catalogue here with this incredible document of undersung hero of the US punk underground, Craig Bell. If you know Bell, i'd assume it's most likely because of his connection to Rocket from the Tombs, a band that require that introduction from me and who, along with Bell himself, are integral to defining Cleveland's god-tier punk credentials. But that's a very small part of Bell's story, which these eleven songs expand into a much bigger and wide-ranging narrative. Post-RFTT, Bell moved to New Haven and showed himself to be a songwriter of some esteem, appearing in a variety of new wave and proto-indie bands where the main constant seems to be his indelible sense of melody and romantic nihilism/nihilistic romanticism (whichever way you prefer it). Obvious nods to Hell and Reed, but also Arthur Russell's Necessaries, The Embarrassment, Chris Spedding, Pete Perrett, even the barfly down-and-out raconteuring of Warren Zevon. And because everything comes from something, in each of these obscure band formations, you can hear the roots of the US indiepop underground most recently documented on that Strum and Thrum comp. Honestly, you could build an entire NTS show around this fella (and someone probably already has).
