Shit happens. For Bellini, this truism manifested itself into drummer and former primary Don Cabellero contributor Damon Che going apeshit onstage in Georgia and abandoning the band with no ride and half a rhythm section. Instead of calling it a tour and a career, two days later saw bassist Matthew Taylor's buddy Alexis Fleisig (Girls Vs. Boys) on the road with them. By day three, he became a permanent replacement. In your face, shit!
In any case, the second album from the still quartet will continue to carry a huge chunk of notoriety from their first. Steve Albini returns to the role of recording, setting up mics for Small Stones in a spot-fixed Austin hole-in-the-wall. The focus, no longer under Che's intense desire, rests more comfortably on the guitar of Agostino Tilotta and the voice of his wife, lead singer Giovanna Cacciola, both formerly of Uzeda. Tilotta consistently churns out catchy-for-math-rock riffs that bathe in Giovanna's incoherent vocals, all of which would've seen this album inconspicuously released back in the Riot Grrrl/grunge days a decade ago. Though, with titles like "Fuck The Mobile Phone," Bellini will probably remain relevant for many years to come.
1. Room Number Five
2. Fuck The Mobile Phone
3. The Exact Distance To The Stars
4. The Buffalo Song
5. Not Any Man
6. Chaser
7. Smiling Fear
8. The Switched Lovers
9. Raymond
10. Agatha
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