Folk singer Bel is 'treading water' on new song and we're feeling it

Also, Mantis Watch goes 100% Armie Hammer and MC Wicks puts together the most Fresno video ever?

Isabel Whelan didn’t write “Treading Water” as a reflection of pandemic times, but it’s hard to hear the song without that filter.

While the song floats through its four minutes with a kind of airy, sun-filled mid-’70s vibe in its vocals and instrumentation, the title and lyrics evoke that odd sense of stasis many have no doubt felt over the past year.

Intentions be damned.

“So much can change in a year, in two years – even a global pandemic,” the former Clovisian (Clovisite??) told Atwood Magazine, which premiered the song last week.

“No matter where you are in your life or what’s happening on the planet, the truth is we’re all just doing our best to stay afloat whenever the waters get rough.”

Over the last year, Whelan has been splitting her time between Fresno and Los Angeles, where she writes and performs under the moniker Bel. “Treading Water” is the band’s third single; the first off an upcoming EP.

You can follow Bel on Instagram at @belwhelanmusic or at belwhelanmusic.com.

Mantis Watch, “I’m 100% a Cannibal”

Some quick background: Actor Armie Hammer (“The Social Network”) was recently outed for allegedly sending a series of “extremely lurid” text messages to at least one woman over the span of the last four years. It’s being a called his “cannibal sex scandal” because, among other things in the texts, he claimed (or, allegedly claimed) to be “100% a cannibal.”

You don’t have to fall down this particular rabbit hole to get Mantis Watch’s same-titled song (released on Youtube last week), but it does offer an additional layer of enjoyment and is a pretty good setup to what the band is all about.

It’s not 100% clear whether the band was responding to the Hammer scandal with the song or if it just happened to be some happy coincidence (though it sounds like the song was slated to be released on their next record).

Either way it makes for a super-catchy two-minute Ramonescore rocker.

EDIT: We now know how the song came to be.

“So that's the story of the song: Conceived of, written, and recorded within a single day for the sole purpose of irritating my bandmates.”

MC Wicks, “It’s a Jungle”

Whether it’s hyping the food scene or local liquor stores, or just being around at all the cool events, Mc Wicks is angling to be Fresno’s most-Fresno rapper.

Getting his likeness blasted up on a mural certainly helps.

With “It’s a Jungle,” Wicks has created an ode to the city he reps. The video for the song pulls historical footage of the city, mostly from old news casts and documentary scenes (from the infamous “Fresno Uncensored” series maybe?). There are some good scenes of downtown’s courthouse park, the old Fulton Mall and maybe an older Fulton Street (though it be could be Van Ness).

The video captures a view of Fresno that used to exist for a lot of people (and maybe still does), with a gritty after effect that compliments Wick’s lyrics and retro-rap aesthetic.

This is the third video Wicks has released in the last few weeks. You can check them out on his Youtube.