Bel plays BottleRock, which ain't bad for singer who still claims Clovis

Plus, Buzz Bomb Phase Four gets with the times and Daze Baby donates to fire relief comp.

BottleRock Napa Valley announced its lineup earlier this month.

It’s an interesting if not somewhat confusing collection of performers. There’s some nuevo classic rock (Green Day, Sublime, Cage the Elephant, 4 Non Blondes), actual classic rock (Robby Krieger, of the Doors), a regional Mexican singer (Carin Leon), and a more-than-typical amount of hip-hop for this kind of festival (Public Enemy, E-40, Ice Cube, Flo Rida, Mix Master Mike).

Then, there’s this whole list of performers that are outside my zone of influence (Benson Boone, Noah Kahan and Khruangbin, for those high in the lineup). The latter of those got a Grammy nod for best new artist last year, so the fact they are unfamiliar says something about me certainly.

All of this is to point attention toward Bel, who will be playing sometime in the middle of the festival’s final day (if the singer’s name placement on the flier is any indication).

Bel is Isabel Whalen a singer/songwriter from Los Angeles (by way of Clovis, though she attended San Joaquin Memorial High School). The singer split time between LA and the Central Valley throughout the pandemic, during which time she penned her debut EP.

\Since, then she’s released two more EPs (including 2023’s “Read the Room”) and built up a following among the indie-rock set. She spent the last year-plus on the road playing festival dates and opening for the like of Cold War Kids.

The singer has a pair of singles out now.

General admission tickets for BottleRock (both single day and for the weekend) are on sale now.

Buzzbomb Phase 4, ‘The Fury of our Times’

Buzzbomb Phase 4 dropped their latest single on inauguration day. It’s a bit of protest, but also a statement of politics.

Per Instagram: “Joe Strummer of The Clash once said they wanted people to know that they were anti-fascist, anti-racist, anti-violence and pro-creative. Those words became my mantra for how to live and create early on in my youth.

We never thought we’d need to re-release a new version of our anthem that embodies these principles, but the moment calls for it.”

Buzzbomb Phase Four (Lance Anderson, Bob Hamasaki and Michael Faeth) played in the early 1990s, but have recently reunited and have been working on new material (they released this version of Devo’s “Uncontrollable Urge” in 2023).

You can find “The Fury of our Times,” on Bandcamp, or across streaming platforms.

‘Back in the Garage, Los Angeles Fire Relief Compilation’

“Back in the Garage,” is a compilation of live performances captured in a garage (obviously) in Los Angeles over the last four or so years, and released earlier this month as a fundraiser for fire relief in the area.

It’s a big boy. It includes 57 mostly underground artists who did sessions at the garage. Most are from Los Angeles, and five were displaced by the fires.

But the sessions were open to other bands just passing through with an interest in playing. That includes Daze Baby, whose donated their song “Keep On” to the compilation.

The album is available on streaming platforms and can be downloaded now (a steal at $10). It will also be released as a limited edition four-volume record (available for $80 preorder now). The digital download included a chance to win record set.

That’s it for this week. Remember you can now hear me on the Homegrown Show Sundays at 8 p.m. on New Rock 104.1 FM. Tonight I’ll be on with the band Kutie to talk about the Monsters of Metal Release show Pt. 2. Follow my other writing at The Fresno Bee. If you have anything you think I need to be looking at or listening to, feel free to let me know: jtehee@gmail.com