Chris Connelly, has been a busy man on the musical front. In addition to fronting the modernized industrial rock act The Damage Manual, Connelly has two forthcoming records. It would be a stretch to call this rock, but it is starkly beautiful and well composed. But Connelly's not done. Like the Bells' first record, the band displays a powerful talent for orchestrated, meticulously crafted pop music, lush in sound yet firmly rooted by an underground stance.
Records has two non-local releases of note in the pipes.
Continuing along the label's gradual, all encompassing move away from aggressive music, The New Year is sonically comfortable indie-rock with an emphasis on the melancholy rather than the despondent. I've had it for a month, and it has become one of the first low-key records I've enjoyed in a while. For more about both Rollins and the record, see Margaret Wappler's Tip of the Week in Newcity's Words section. The former Black Flag frontman also makes an appearance at the Vic, February 13, celebrating his fortieth birthday and speaking his words. Raw Material is a little late on this one-my bad.