more from
Polyvinyl Records
We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

Bell House

by Shy Boys

/
  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      $10 USD  or more

     

  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    Includes unlimited streaming of Bell House via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 5 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      $18 USD or more 

     

1.
Miracle Gro 01:18
said i can’t believe it should we cut or leave it in the ground? bend it over with a ladder keep it from the piggies sniffing with their noses pressed against the dirt digging truffles out my bedroom door gotta keep it inside they’ll pass it by was our dirty secret buddin’ off the street we let it grow six or seven feet outside my window getting’ higher daily, said i’m sick of waiting cut and dry, hang it up inside my brother’s door gotta keep it inside they’ll pass it by
2.
i dropped some food on the ground it’s sad how quickly you scarf it down hey bud, are you getting fed? eat up before your real owner comes home and sees someone leaning over his back fence with food he already doesn’t even like me your best friend needs somebody what are you waiting for? he’s thin as can be one night i’m leavin’ here for good and I plan to take the doggie with me
3.
Tragic Loss 02:10
childhood was easy a childhood free from real violence just listen to some of my bad dreams poppies were stuffed toys that folded into themselves and rolled into my recurring nightmares think of what a tragic loss one scary evening our hallway lit up with headlights a car slowly drove past my bedroom think of what a tragic loss would have done to me think of what a tragic loss would have done to me safe and sound i made it up when i was asleep think of what a tragic loss
4.
No Fun 02:29
can’t keep up anymore having fun was so easy don’t care what level that you’re on think i’m better on my own
5.
Evil Sin 02:34 video
gave you money you were supposed to return with something but instead you gave me lies told me something went awry lips moving at the speed of light must be tiring deeply embedded in your wiring but it’s still an evil sin if you want to be my friend don’t ever lie again but it’s still an evil sin if you want to be my friend don’t ever lie again
6.
Basement 01:32
a former time and place has come again a spindle breaks, my dog escapes was grey then yellow, green then bluish paint the carpet stains are still the same i read another story on the internet i’m hangin’ with my brother for an evening in if you wanna know the truth of it, it’s looking grim oh, and then got a wife and a dog and i’m living in my mom’s basement a former time and place has come again a friendly space without my friends and where i used to sit and play guitar is where our books and boxes are i read another story on the internet i’m hangin’ with my brother for an evening in if you wanna know the truth of it, it’s looking grim oh, and then got a wife and a dog and i’m living in my mom’s basement
7.
something sweet, something to satisfy my eyes wide searchin’ up and down the aisles something sweet, something to tie me over roll in back tight pack close the door and off we go we’re passing by that exit to find a destination someplace with better options we’ve been so very patient
8.
Bell House 03:45
it’s been a long time coming this house was falling down it can be the end we’ll split apart and still be friends don’t be sad, don’t be blue don’t gotta talk about what we do every morning she wakes up early goes to work keeps our family afloat when she’s gone i’ll take her pillow roll away when she turns on a light
9.
Disconnect 01:52
then she yawns and walks away tired from work it’s getting late let’s me know it’s been a day she goes to bed, i wanna stay cause i can’t sleep at 10:30 no matter what she might expect turn the t.v. down turn off the lights and disconnect turn the t.v. down turn off the lights and disconnect
10.
Champion 03:07
i remember when we were going off to school you took a picture to recall when we grow up we never would or when I would run up and down the block you’d lie and tell me i was fast just to see my smile you’d be my champion when the world was burning down we could no reverse your frown and everything was broken call me over i’m around know i won’t forget you now though it may be unspoken but it’s not enough to make up for wasted time the shelves collecting dust, the stairs are hard to climb i’ll be right by your side when the world was burning down we could no reverse your frown and everything was broken call me over i’m around know i won’t forget you now though it may be unspoken

about

Being in a band is a sacred thing.
Being in a band in 2018 is a sacred thing.
Being from the Midwest is a sacred thing.
Being in a band that is from the Midwest in 2018...

Consider Shy Boys - DIY local champions of Kansas City, MO, who if you add it all up, are something sacred. Comprised of brothers Collin and Kyle Rausch and best friends Konnor Ervin, Kyle Little and Ross Brown, Shy Boys are the heartland’s answer to The Beach Boys had Alex Chilton been on guitar.

But if a harmony falls into a microphone in the middle of America does anyone really hear it? Some do. Take for instance Shy Boys’ 2014 self-titled debut on local Kansas City label, High Dive Records - I first came across this album while living in Los Angeles and catching wind of a band from my home town that I was told could "actually sing," and after the first spin, through the muddy fidelity, man, could they actually sing.

Shy Boys’ history isn't too dissimilar from any other Midwestern band. Like the many Replacements or Husker Düs before them - they exist neither here nor there, but instead, somewhere anonymously in the middle. And though you may not find the same opportunity floating in the middle as one would Here or There, you are allotted a certain amount of time and space to grow both yourself and your craft into what you want it to be. Over the past four years, that is exactly what Shy Boys have done and that is what brings us here today.

On August 3, 2018, the world will see the release of their second record, Bell House, out on legendary and globally cherished record label Polyvinyl, bringing both their profile and music to the surface for the first time.

The album’s title is taken from the band’s beloved headquarters - the old house on Bell Street in Kansas City where they lived together for the better part of 5 years.

“‘Lived’ is a loose term,” says lead songwriter Collin. “It was more like a bum den than anything else. There was a giant hole in the floor of the kitchen that had a piece of plywood over it. In the backyard, weeds got like 6 feet high in the summer. It was its own thriving biome. We lived in trash.”

Musically, Collin describes the songs on Bell House taking shape through “a group of guys trying to get through some sort of mutual identity crisis. The lifestyle became overwhelming and really seeped into the music.”

In the time since the release of ST, Collin saw himself falling in love and getting married, leaving the old house on Bell Street, and moving back into his mom’s house with his wife in a suburb of the city. It's here where the songs of Bell House were born. Being back under the same roof he had grown up in where there was “still writing on the walls from childhood," Rausch found himself reflective and looking out at his life as a whole.

Take closing track “Champion” for instance, a song Collin says is dedicated to his and Kyle’s mother. “It’s just a note saying that she took care of us when we were young, and now it’s time for us to be there and take care of her.”

The reflective spirit sprinkled throughout the album is also evident on lead single, “Take The Doggie,” a bouncy, guitar driven track centered around wanting to secretly rescue their neighbor’s dog from an abusive owner, or on album highlight “Evil Sin,” which tackles the memory of drummer/bassist Konnor Ervin getting robbed.

But through all of this, Rausch kept his passion in his band, if even for nothing more than to - in his own words - have an excuse to keep hanging out with his brother and best friends.

“I have to keep Shy Boys alive to have a regular excuse to hang out with them,” says Collin. “To keep the band alive, I have to write songs. To be able to travel with my buddies, there has to be a new record.”

There is an old term that's kicked around in country music called a "blood harmony" - in which two people in the same blood line, usually siblings, harmonize with one another in real time. Perhaps that is Shy Boys’ magic touch, putting them just a notch above all the other angels out there in the indie rock choir, and it makes sense, though no longer practicing evangelicals, Collin and Kyle grew up singing besides their parents in their church choir, so their keen sense of harmony is nothing new to them, but instead a life practice devoted to the voice as an instrument.

The result is Bell House, and the result is beautiful. There is something sensitive to the touch about this album, which is perhaps another way of saying that, well - Shy Boys are indeed Shy Boys. I envision the band as a solid unit, with each moving part as an equal. There is a heavy sense of family in everything they do both, literally and figuratively. Bruce Springsteen's 1980 song “Highway Patrolman” always seems to come to mind;

"Yeah me and Franky out laughing and drinking,
Nothing feels better than blood on blood."

-Kevin Morby

credits

released August 3, 2018

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Shy Boys Kansas City, Missouri

On Shy Boys' third full-length album, Talk Loud, the Kansas City quintet push themselves artistically at nearly every turn, crafting 11 songs that explore new instrumentation, intricate vocal harmonies, and endearing, yet at times dark lyrics resulting in some of the band's best work to date. ... more

contact / help

Contact Shy Boys

Streaming and
Download help

Redeem code

Report this album or account

If you like Shy Boys, you may also like: