New York’s Helmet are back with Left, their first album in seven years. Page Hamilton is the only remaining member of the band from the original line-up, but he’s surrounded by some capable musicians who have continued to play the trademark sound that Hamilton has carved out for Helmet. My dalliance with the band began with their classic Betty album in 1994 and I even caught them when touring that album as part of the Sunstroke Festival in Dublin. I know I’ve a couple more of their CDs tucked away too. Intrigued by the upbeat ‘Holiday’ song I decided to give the album the once over.
The aforementioned ‘Holiday’ has the oddest of starts by dropping in with the chipper melodic bridge. There’s a detailed set of vile insults for the verse and the chorus is another earworm that will lodge itself in your head. Whether by intent or not, I may have completely mixed verses, choruses and bridges up. Any road, ‘Holiday’ is a wee reminder of Helmet’s core strengths. ‘Gun Fluf’ is based on an edgy riff and ascending melody, often utilised by Therapy?, while drummer Kyle Stevenson lays waste to his snare. There’s melody in the chorus but it’s not anywhere near as good a hook as the one in ‘Holiday’. Staccato riffs and choppy beats do battle on ‘NYC Tough Guy’ creating a chunky groove to nod your head to.
On ‘Make-Up’ Dan Beeman offers scorching elongated guitar chords rather than riffs allowing Page the opportunity for some more melodic lines and there’s a blistering solo too. The quality levels take a dip with ‘Big Shot’ which throws up some churning riffs that aren’t particularly memorable dragging Page’s vocals into a quagmire, resulting in an ultimately forgettable track. ‘Bombastic’ takes what feels like an age to get swinging with a quirky taunting chorus, but the awkward jarred timings in the verse simply grate. The bridge near the end just sounds like it has been welded in from some random jam session.
The brief ‘Reprise’ is a forgettable interlude that works merely in terms of breaking up the grind of generic riffs. ‘Dislocated’ is a return to the whap-bap stop start grooves of Betty and whilst the melodic content is minimal, it’s a more appealing track. ‘Tell Me Again’ is an attempt at an acoustic ballad but it’s played out a guitar that sounds a tad broken, or out of tune even. The sweeping strings add some relief and are tinted with melancholy, but Page’s vocal melody doesn’t do them justice.
‘Powder Puff’ has a cracking off kilter riff over some superb beats with some neat interjectory “nothing” backing vocals. The chorus is probably the second best on the album but if you compare this album to the recent Therapy? album, the Irish men filled their album with excellent hooks that are so much better than anything on offer here. The album ends with ‘Resolution’ which is a frankly bizarre and fucking awful attempt at jazz that ends the album on a low note and puts any notion of returning to it out of your head.
I’d high hopes for this album after hearing the lead track ‘Holiday’ but it is such a red herring because the rest of this album has nothing even close to match the hooky melodies and choppy riffs. To have two half-arsed tracks that amount to nothing more than sketches is unforgivable on a 30 minute album. All in all, you’re left disappointed with this album which would have been better served up as an extended play.
