Helms Alee is currently my favorite "new" band from Seattle. And, yes, I am a bit biased as HA's singer/guitarist/amplifier-builder Ben Verellen and I have history playing music together. But goddamn, this new project of his is pretty incredible. I've pasted the unofficial bio I wrote for their myspace below. Hopefully that'll sum it all up.
Punk is dead. The cause of death was the mere act of giving it a name. This carefully constructed form of rebellion was rendered null and void once it became synonymous with a specific sound and wardrobe choice. One could postulate that every genre of rock music is plagued by the same terminal ailment: the 20th century left us with the artistic baggage of a culture constantly craving the creation of something entirely new by name, yet reassuringly familiar in content. "Alternative" was really nothing of the sort. Grunge is interesting only for the sake of irony or nostalgia; electroclash went out of fashion as quickly as the clothing trends it was based on; and anyone with a half a brain should be sceptical of any new band that opts to place three parentheses))) at the end of it's name. Resultingly, every band is born with a death sentence, but the prognosis is especially grim for any band that's quickly filed under the latest buzzword. Let that be a warning to any band describing themselves as "psych-folk". One can only speculate what paths Helms Alee will wander during their journey from the cradle to the grave, but based on their birth one can only assume that it will be a long and curious life. The band gives it's listeners a wealth of sonic range to ponder and absorb between aural bludgeons, but provides next to nothing in terms of contextual information. What the hell is this noise anyway? Who are these people? What does "Helms Alee" even mean? Three part male-female vocal harmonies over alternating atonal driven discord and fuzzed-out melodic pummellings? What the hell is anyone supposed to make of that? Comparisons inevitably seem inadequate, and we're not even given a handy list of influences on their website to give us a frame of reference. Where's the hip haircuts? Where's the telling modern design elements? Without these digestible icons, their poor audience might actually have to develop their own opinions and judge the band on the merits of the sounds they create, not the lexicon they endorse. Such factors guarantee that Helms Alee is destined to be unloved by the masses and revered by a small chosen few.
Punk is dead. The cause of death was the mere act of giving it a name. This carefully constructed form of rebellion was rendered null and void once it became synonymous with a specific sound and wardrobe choice. One could postulate that every genre of rock music is plagued by the same terminal ailment: the 20th century left us with the artistic baggage of a culture constantly craving the creation of something entirely new by name, yet reassuringly familiar in content. "Alternative" was really nothing of the sort. Grunge is interesting only for the sake of irony or nostalgia; electroclash went out of fashion as quickly as the clothing trends it was based on; and anyone with a half a brain should be sceptical of any new band that opts to place three parentheses))) at the end of it's name. Resultingly, every band is born with a death sentence, but the prognosis is especially grim for any band that's quickly filed under the latest buzzword. Let that be a warning to any band describing themselves as "psych-folk". One can only speculate what paths Helms Alee will wander during their journey from the cradle to the grave, but based on their birth one can only assume that it will be a long and curious life. The band gives it's listeners a wealth of sonic range to ponder and absorb between aural bludgeons, but provides next to nothing in terms of contextual information. What the hell is this noise anyway? Who are these people? What does "Helms Alee" even mean? Three part male-female vocal harmonies over alternating atonal driven discord and fuzzed-out melodic pummellings? What the hell is anyone supposed to make of that? Comparisons inevitably seem inadequate, and we're not even given a handy list of influences on their website to give us a frame of reference. Where's the hip haircuts? Where's the telling modern design elements? Without these digestible icons, their poor audience might actually have to develop their own opinions and judge the band on the merits of the sounds they create, not the lexicon they endorse. Such factors guarantee that Helms Alee is destined to be unloved by the masses and revered by a small chosen few.
Labels: helms alee
posted by bubblegutz at 1:49 PM
1 Comments:
Brian!
I am psyched that you have a blog, and as a superfan of all things Verellen, I am waaay psyched on Helms Alee.
Party on.
-BARKER.
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