I maybe had some sub conscious urge to listen to the lead single from Arise, the collaboration album between Glasgow band Helicon and Los Angeles DJ/Producer Al Lover. It turns out Helicon’s 2020 album This Can Only Lead To Chaos sneaked into my itunes, unbeknown to me. This glorious new album is a strong contender for album of the year. Produced by Tony Doogan (JAMC and Mogwai) the 9-strong band sent demos to Lover before heading to Castle Of Doom studios to lay down the music, waiting for Lover to work his magic with drum machines, synths and samplers. In the words of Helicon frontman John-Paul Hughes, the album’s intent is “a visceral wake-up call to rise above the bullshit and reclaim meaning from the madness”.
The very instant I heard lead single ‘Arise’, with those clanging sitars and zithers writhing and twisting with a super groovy beat I was hooked. A lumbering bass drags the listener horizontal as warped guitar twangs just make EVERYTHING FEEL GOOD! I’m transported back to those heady indie discos from the early 90s and it’s blissful. ‘Backbreaker’ slides in on an eastern infused monster party groove of throbbing bass and propulsive beats. Downing some magic elixir once consumed by The Beta Band, the repeated mantra of “feel it when I hear your name!” in a delightful Scottish brogue is like a warm hug. Awakening from that glorious euphoric rush of the first two songs, there’s an urgency in the powering beats and whooshes of ‘Tabula Rasa’, like you’ve slept in for work after a heady night out.
I’ve played Primal Scream’s ‘Slip Inside This House’ hundreds of times. Yet every time that bumping seismic groove drops it feels like the first time you heard it. The boom-bust mega drop of the GIANT BASTARD groove in ‘Not A Thought’ has the same goosebump inducing effect. Tripping into a psychedelic smorgasbord of effects, swinging guitars and a very loose and largely indecipherable vocal, the only drawback of this track is that it ends too soon.
For the love of God there has to be a let-up in this groove attack. A man of my age shouldn’t be STILL bopping round his kitchen like an eejit! The aptly named ‘It Won’t Stop’ belts along the tracks with a thunderous head smacking beat and swirling guitars spinning round an ellipse like an aural drug. ‘Adjust The Dosage’ finally shifts us to A and E as a Jason Spaceman influenced guitar twangs a beautiful spectral loop as your spine subsides into a sloppy mess. I swear I had some sort of epiphany when that heavenly choir dropped on first play. This track is just fucking stunning and is the greatest song Spiritualized never recorded.
You have to play ‘We Don’t Belong’ on headphones as loud as you can take it to FEEL that monster bass groove roll about your head. It’s trippier than a newborn deer with three legs. Eventually there’s a comedown groove in the form of the handclap slip slap of ‘Midnight Mass’ as seriously laid-back bass and guitar fuse with some more choral voices for a very chilled atmospheric. A killer BOOMBAP beat drops for the closing track ‘Goodbye Cool World’ before sliding into a whacked-out fusion of ‘Loaded’ wah-wah guitars, Orb-esque samples and a lovely Beta Band inspired piano and mantra.
As my worldview becomes increasingly beaten and my musical listening descends further into the noisy dissonance of black metal, hearing this album has absolutely levelled me emotionally. It’s truly like a lost classic album that was recorded 30 years ago escaping a heavily locked vault. That good. When all around you turns to absolute shit, here’s a truly outstanding record that will wrap you in sunshine and make you feel alive.
