"Whether they are unleashing torrents of churning riffs, hypnotic waves of distortion or gruff or lilting calls into vast spaces, Helms Alee do so in limpid, atmospheric and unique fashion. No doubt, the crisp and cavernous production from Matt Bayles serves them well as tremolo-picked guitars gush like waterfalls, drums rattle timbers and the Pixies-esque male-female vocals sound like they’ve traversed continents." - PopMatters
"Helms Alee featuring Ben Verellen of ex-(current?) Harkonen seemed to be the clear winner of the "OMG-I-didn't-know-they-ruled-so-hard" award." - BrooklynVegan
"...part metal, part post-punk, part melody-driven rock, and all abandon... Think of Neurosis joining up with The Breeders for a quick outing into the wilderness." - Alarm Press
"The overall hype and general praise of Night Terror has sparked the curiosity of many fans who’ve wondered when a follow up might see the light of day." - The Synthesis
"Helms Alee are known for one thing: stoned freak-outs of the heavy, slow variety." - The Stranger
"...a noisy, nasty yang to Seattle's beardy, folky yin. Pastoral metal is a necessary thing." - Seattle Times
Helms Alee’s sophomore album,
Weatherhead, could turn any cultural critic into a histori-cal revisionist. Let’s pull the buckshot back through the maw of a 20th century icon. Let’s reassemble the bloody mess and set a disenfranchised young man on a different trajec-tory, one devoid of celebrity and tragedy. Let’s re-envision the last twenty years. The other crucial variables can remain in place - hair metal still choked on its own excess, the beguiling mixed-gender vocal harmonies and alternating jangle and clang of
The Pixies still seduced college radio, the antagonistic sludge of
The Melvins continued to rumble across the globe, and the orchestrated discord of Sonic Youth still proved noise could hold artistic merit. But punk never broke, never became a cliche. Do you buy into Tolstoy’s belief that the individual is a mere pawn in history’s master plan? Would the lineage of rock music have found another reluctant voice of a generation?
Much as Tolstoy suspected that a stillborn Napoleon would not have prevented another
hegemonic ruler from sweeping across Europe, the tastes and tides of public demand
would’ve most likely elevated another unglamorous tortured artist into the limelight. But it’s still tempting to think of a parallel universe where the idiosyncratic marriage of wounded pop music and wrathful dissonant rock never found a footing in the mainstream world. It’s a dream not born out of a disdain for the pairing of the opposing musical tactics of brawn and sophistication, but the disappointment that the balancing act is so commonly butchered by popular artists. These men, lacking vision, have turned it into a cheap formula. In the alternate reality, a band like
Helms Alee reigns above all. Here, no one seeks to tame guitar squall to fit in a radio format or, inversely, needlessly dirty up a good hook to provide an air of authenticity. Here,
Helms Alee’s balance is the archetype - masterful and enthralling.
Given the history of the last two decades and the deepening sense that melody and
muscle compromise one another,
Weatherhead becomes heroic. It’s not just gallant in intent, but in sound. Granted, heroism is subjective; listeners are bound to have their own preferred reverberations to conjure an inspired rallying cry. But
Helms Alee’s gamut of timbres--from the most guttural blown-out roar to the most graceful lilting melody-summon a sense of triumph, empowerment, and conquest. The relentless chugging fuzz and vocal harmonies of “Elbow Grease”, the concrete thrust of the central riff of “8/16”, the thunderstruck arpeggio of “Pretty As Pie”, the siren song of “Pig Pile”, the unbridled scuzz of “Ripper No Lube”, and the alternating agit-punk and anthemic approach of the title track all reinforces
Helms Alee’s position as masters of diametrically opposed tactics. They are the true heroes and heroines of the loud-quiet-loud.
Weatherhead was recorded by
Matt Bayles at
Studio Litho and
Red Room Studios in the Winter of 2010-2011. It’s set for release via
Hydra Head Records on June 21st, 2011.
Helms Alee are currently scheduled to hit the road with label mates
Torche and
Big Business in June 2011. Bear witnesses to the path that never saw fame and fortune taint the beguiling rumble and bow to the throne of
Helms Alee. --
Brian Cook
"Weatherhead" Track List
1. *
2. Elbow Grease
3. 8/16
4. Music Box
5. Pretty as Pie
6. Anemone of the Wound
7. Mad Mouth
8. Epic Adventure Through the Wood
9. Speed Sk8r
10. Pig Pile
11. Revel!
12. Ripper No Lube
13. Born in Fiberglass
14. Weatherhead
Helms Alee Live
6/07 Seattle, WA @ Comet Tavern w/ Young Widows
6/29 Seattle, WA @ Neumos w/ Akimbo, Brothers of the Sonic Cloth, Norska
7/6 Austin, TX @ Red 7 w/ Migas
w/ Torche and Big Business
7/07 Houston, TX @ Walter’s on Washington
7/08 Baton Rouge, LA @ Spanish Moon
7/09 Birmingham, AL @ Bottletree Cafe
7/11 Tampa, FL @ The Orpheum
7/12 Miami, FL @ Churchill's
7/13 Orlando, FL @ The Social
7/14 Atlanta, GA @ EARL
7/15 Greensboro, NC @ Greene Street Club
7/16 Washington, DC @ Rock and Roll Hotel
7/17 Baltimore, MD @ The Ottobar
7/19 Philadelphia, PA @ First Unitarian Church
7/20 Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
7/21 Cambridge, MA @ Middle East Downstairs
7/22 Buffalo, NY @ Mohawk Place
7/23 Cleveland Heights, OH @ Grog Shop
7/24 Newport, KY @ The Historic Southgate House
7/25 Grand Rapids, MI @ The Pyramid Scheme
7/26 Detriot, MI @ Magic Stick
7/27 Indianapolis, IN @ The Hoosier Dome
7/28 Chicago, IL @ The Bottom Lounge
7/29 Minneapolis, MN @ Triple Rock Social Club
7/30 Omaha, NE @ The Waiting Room
7/31 Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theater
8/02 Salt Lake City, UT @ Club Vegas
8/03 Boise, ID @ Neurolux
8/04 Seattle, WA @ Neumo’s
For more information, visit:
Helms Alee on Facebook
www.myspace.com/helmsaleemusic
www.hydrahead.com
