Ken Gould is a Philadelphia-based singer/songwriter, musician, frontman and creative mastermind behind the emerging, experimental rock project Bedolina. The project’s name is derived from the Bedolina Map, a rock in the Italian Alps engraved with a complex topographical map and petroglyphs of people and animals amidst villages and roads, created between 1000 and 200 BC.
The Philadelphia-based band can trace its origins back to just before COVID-19 lockdowns: Gould brought four songs to Miner Street Recording‘s Brian McTear (Kurt Vile, Sharon van Etten) and Matt Poirier. When pandemic lockdowns caused the world to grind to a halt, Gould was allowed the opportunity to create a new, diverse set of introspective songs.
Tour cancellations allowed The War on Drugs‘ Charlie Hall (drums) and Robbie Bennet (drums), along with Dr. Dog‘s Frank McElroy to participate in the recording sessions for the material that would eventually comprise the band’s recently released sophomore album Sun and Flamingoes.
Sun and Flamingoes touches upon themes of surrealism, fascist dystopia and the unsettling nature of the modern world, while socially, the album’s material sees Gould and company establishing a sound that weaves together elements of experimental electronica, indie rock and classic pop among others.
The sophomore EP’s first single “We Are the Clock Ourselves Again” is a woozy rock anthem that showcases Gould’s unerring knack for pairing rousing and remarkably catch hooks and choruses with a relentless, driving rhythm and Dire Straits-like guitars. Featuring The War On Drugs’ Robbie Bennett (keys) and Charlie Hall (drums), “We Are the Clock Ourselves Again” as Gould explains is about “perceiving life through your innate sense of right and wrong.” Highlighting self-reliance, the song encourages those listening to march to the beat of their own “clock.”
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