Alternative rock, shoegaze, and psychedelia meet up for great things on – Melter, the new full-length album by Helen Kelter Skelter. Not only do they have a unique name, they play some of the most unique simple rock fused with more complex genres than one can count. The guitar work of Jay Jamison and vocals by Eli Wimmer, make for a fantastic combo with keyboardist Tim Gregory keeping it musically grounded. If you’re looking for something that doesn’t travel down a one-way street, this is the ticket to that trip. It comes recommended for that and so much more.
“Palamino” speaks volumes for itself as one of the standout tracks without having to absorb the album very many times. It’s probably the most radio-friendly track to its credit too. But it’s worth getting it out of the way for those who like to be pointed to the major goods on an album. Any collection of songs with this much going on should be properly heard though, so leading off with the tremendously good “21st Century” is but the appropriate choice to get the tracklist moving. This too is one of the said standouts, along with “Minding” which is the thinking man’s tune of the album, and a surreal mind melting experience.
Those tracks alone take the proverbial cake they’ve baked on what is a rock music lover’s delight. It plays to both the light and hard rockers of the current scene, which has been mining a meet in the middle vibe for the last fifteen years or so. It shows they’ve been listening along the way. “75” goes from Duran Duran to Nirvana in a quick, it’s that varied. You get the retro smooth romantic feel and garage punk edge together in one song. It has everything, including a Brit-pop sound that is mostly noticed in the vocals, and the rest takes you away like Calgon. Don’t miss this track at any cost, it falls in as another album stand out.
Helen Keller Skelter Will Leave You Tripping
Making way for some casual but clear and present bombast is the hard and progressive, droning sounds of “Time Bomb” for a twist in the overall tale. Soundgarden fans will enjoy the robotic pace of this, but it surpasses because of the uncompromising aura that so rarely ever makes for commercial material. But that’s just par for the course on this album that gives and takes in that department for all the right reasons. It goes remarkably well in unison sequence with “Tracers” which contends for another standout. If you don’t like it, you might as well give up on their excellence.
The mellowest track is “Mysterio Prevails” with its instrumental majesty doing all the proper business to measure things up. This goes right into “Flying Through The Clouds” almost as if the former were subtitled for it. Together they work wonders as the album winds down to the beefy sounds of “Wunschkonzert” with its passionate vocals and crashing drums, and its droning psychedelic sonic make for more bombast. And the last but not least worthy track, “Inside Out” to round off a world-class album at the end of the day. The more from HKS the better, as they’re much needed in what is a fickle time for rock and theirs is great.
You can find more Helen Keller Skelter HERE
-review by Alan Foster
