New Orleans band Bellringer is fronted by Summer Newman, who sings, plays guitar and a little organ, and wrote most of the band’s second record, is this the afterlife, one of the more intriguing new releases this week. With their raw edge, Bellringer sound like their feet are firmly planted in underground music, yet it’s difficult to pin them to any specific genre or sound. It’s their own hybrid brew of folk, punk and garage music.

Newman’s singing commands attention. She sounds like someone you want to hear, whether she’s intimidating on one song or suddenly vulnerable on the next. There’s a sonic kinship with Twisted Teens, which makes sense because Caspian Halliwell plays guitar on is this the afterlife, co-wrote a couple of songs, and most notably produced and mixed the record. With two Twisted Teens records already released this year and a third on the way, it’s impressive that the dude still found time for other projects.

But don’t expect is this the afterlife to behave like an appendix or tagalong to the three Twisted Teens records. Bellringer is a project with its own appeal, and the Newman-Halliwell collaboration feels genuinely symbiotic rather than like one artist simply lending a hand to another. The same goes for the rest of the band, with Eli Goldman (The Discussions) on bass and Howe Pearson (The Deslondes) on drums.

There’s a lot going on here, but Bellringer never sound like they’re trying to prove anything. is this the afterlife simply sounds like a band finding its own strange little corner of underground music and making itself comfortable there.

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