Veteran rockers of the
experimental and punk rock scenes BILL have released their fourth
studio album, “The BILL Album.” The full-length record contains
13 original BILL tracks for an approximate total listening time of 34
minutes. It has been proudly published as an independent release
without the involvement of the corporate music industry on the
Grasshopper record label. Eclectic, kaleidoscopic, and more than a
little brilliant, “The BILL Album” proves that after 30 years,
BILL still have what it takes to draw crowds from miles away.
Boston's BILL are perhaps
most famous for their lead singer, Bill Gage, a longtime performer
living with Down syndrome. Telegram.com's Victor D. Infante writes of
Bill Gage's vocals, “As punk did in its heyday, Gage cuts straight
to the heart of a song's feeling, and in the process creates music
that's both uncomfortable and unmistakably vital.”
Ian Sands of the Boston
Phoenix agrees:
“Watching Bill
Gage perform with his band BILL is an eye-opening experience. You go
in not knowing what to expect, maybe even a little nervous on behalf
of everyone involved – the crowd, the band, yourself. But then you
are witness to a sizzling and raw hard-rock display, and your
reservations vanish. Gage doesn't so much sing songs as tear through
them, his vocals occasionally sounding as if they're coming from
someone twice his size. You think for sure his voice is going to give
out any moment, but it never does. It's magnificent.”
Asked to cite some main
artistic influences, BILL suggest Captain Beefheart, Pere Ubu, Yoko
Ono, Can, and Public Image, Ltd., Johnny Rotten's band following the
Sex Pistols. It's this last entry which captures the energy, texture
and tone of BILL best. Music fans familiar with Beefheart can expect
a similarly unmistakable talent in BILL's instrumentalists, while
Yoko Ono listeners are likely to appreciate the raw artistic value of
“The BILL Album.”
Uncommon in all kinds of
rock is the tight focus on the frontman, Bill, himself. Guitarist
John relates, “There have been times when we've played with a metal
band, and members will be watching Bill sing in astonishment because
the famous 'cookie monster' voice that many metal acts use is
something Bill does easily, but he doesn't do it as a quiet
bass-falsetto, he just opens his voice like a Tibetan throat-singer,
and it's loud!”
This is easily heard on “MonsterRock Band,” “Pucky Pucky,” and “La-La-Lies,” among others.
This is easily heard on “MonsterRock Band,” “Pucky Pucky,” and “La-La-Lies,” among others.
This isn't the only trick
up Bill Gage's sleeve, either. His performances have a practiced, yet
improvisational quality which persists even in BILL's studio
recordings. Sometimes he speaks into the mic, sometimes shouts,
sometimes croons, sometimes screams, sometimes growls, sometimes
vocalizes in surprising, inimitable and indescribable ways which add
to the experience of hearing BILL unlike the performance of any band
member in recent memory.
Asked to describe the
overall meaning of “The BILL Album,” Grasshopper Records writes,
“Rock 'n' roll, excitement, & surprise are still alive. All
people are human, with ideas & feelings that are as legitimate as
anyone else's are. People who have Down syndrome want to (& have
the right to) participate in society as much as anyone else. You
never know where cool music may come from. Rock 'n' roll is a music
for and by outsiders, cast-offs, mutants, weirdos, & aliens –
it is not the music of high school football captains, head
cheerleaders, or wall street analysts.”
BILL are considered the
first band in history to include a key member with an intellectual
disability.
“BILL continue to
perform around New England whenever they can,” reads their current
official bio. “Just don't ask them to play your art-gallery
opening. BILL are a rock band. They are loud.”
“The BILL Album”
by BILL on the Grasshopper label is available from over 600 quality
digital music stores online worldwide now. Get in early, punk and
experimental rock fans. Very early.
-S. McCauley
Lead Press Release Writer
“The BILL
Album” by BILL –
Official Website –
