Teen-Beat 503. BELLS OF. 00/85.

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Bells Of

00/85

SIDE ONE:

Live as You Please
Down
In Stone
Like In Movies

SIDE TWO:

Within Time
After Rain
Off White

Vinyl LP (LP) ($16,00)

12-inch vinyl with innersleeve and booklet. [via our pals at Dischord]

Download (FLAC/MP3) ($9,90)

Listen and purchase FLAC or MP3 files from our friends at Midheaven.

Purchase

Listen

BELLS OF Young McDonald and the Five Season Farmers album

SUBJECT TO CHANGE Slouching Toward Somerville album

THE JONNY COHEN LOVE MACHINE A Quiet Reminder album

TRUE LOVE ALWAYS Return of the Wild Style Fashionists album

Lawrence McDonald at the second Bells Of show in 1985.
Photo by Mark McDonald.

Bells Of
00/85
jacket, front

Bells Of
00/85
jacket, back

Bells Of
00/85
innersleeve, front

Bells Of
00/85
innersleeve, back

Bells Of
00/85
label, side one

Bells Of
00/85
label, side two

DESCRIPTION

The very first studio recording of Bells Of from their inaugural year of 1985.

LINER NOTES

PLAYERS

Lawrence McDonald, vocals, guitar

Bleu Kopperl, bass

Pete Wilborne, drums

Alec MacKaye, backing vocals

RECORDED BY

Don Zientara,

at Inner Ear, Arlington, Virginia, USA
August 11, 1985

MIXED BY

Don Zientara,

and Bells Of

MASTERED BY

Dan Coutant

in 2015

COVER DESIGN

Jason Farrell

ET CETERA

This is the first Bells Of release to not feature the artwork of Peter Quinn on the front cover.

The band entered the studio with then vocalist Alec MacKaye. He left the band before his vocals were recorded. Guitarist, songwriter, and band leader Lawrence McDonald then sang the lyrics himself. Alec's backing vocals do appear on "Live as You Please."

The vinyl LP was manufactured and released by Rich Jacobs' the Move Sounds label in Oakland, California. A co-release with the Teen-Beat label. Teen-Beat provided the download and streaming and also offered the album in their store.

The Move Sounds release date for the record was October 25, 2015. The 30th anniversary of Bells Of second show and also Lawrence's birthday.

BIOGRAPHY

1985 was a transitional period for the Washington DC music scene. Founding members of the hardcore movement pulled away from its original trajectory in search of a new musical direction. Rites of Spring, Embrace, and Gray Matter are all well-known and well-documented examples of this time and shift that came to be known as Revolution Summer.

But theirs were not the only voices.

In the early months of '85, 17-year-old guitarist Lawrence McDonald set out to form a new band. His ex-bandmates from his previous hardcore band Capital Punishment were doing the same — Mike Fellows with Rites of Spring and Colin Sears with Dag Nasty. Lawrence found vocalist Alec MacKaye (Faith), drummer Pete Wilborne (The 400), and bassist Bleu Kopperl and Bells of was born. Inspired by the budding movement of the time, the band moved quickly. By summer they began their first recording at Inner Ear Studio with Don Zeintara, and on August 11, 1985, Bells Of played their first show, opening for Rites of Spring and Embrace. Unfortunately, Alec departed soon after, leaving the recording without vocals and the band without a vocalist.�

Not wanting to lose momentum and having written all the lyrics anyway, Lawrence returned to Inner Ear to sing his songs for the first time. He pulled fellow skater Jason Farrell into the band as second guitar to help in a live setting while Lawrence transitioned to lead vocals and guitar. On October 25, 1985, Bells of played their second show, again with Rites of Spring and Embrace. It was Lawrence's 18th birthday, and the real birthday for Bells of — a musical entity that has continued uninterrupted to this day.

For reasons that are not entirely clear, this first Bells of recording was never released. After mixing the songs, Don Zientara set the tape box on a shelf at Inner Ear where it was forgotten as Lawrence set about writing more. By the following spring, Lawrence had shed all the songs, shed the members, and started over anew — a cycle he would repeat multiple times over the years. A few of the songs made their way across the country on cassette dubs passed between DC purists and pockets of fans with little or no backstory to the songs' origin. Rich Jacobs was one of those fans. He enlisted the help of Jason Farrell to track down Lawrence and the lost collection of songs to give them the release they both felt it deserved. The tape box was still sitting on Don's shelf 30 years later.