There’s one word that comes up over and over again while talking about Helms Alee.
Weird.
And that’s not because the Seattle three-piece, who create fuzzed-out indie rock with a decidedly melodic bent, are actually that strange–the band fits firmly within the Northwest’s tradition of bands who are heavy, but not at all “metal,” and are melodic, but definitely not pop.
No, the band is weird because they’re unexpected. Their sound surprises.
Helms Alee released their debut album, Night Terror, last August on indie-metal stalwart Hydra Head Records. It’s a record of pure delight; with huge, winding riffs built on columns of distorted guitar noise. It’s catchy, with intertwining vocals from all three members, male and female. It’s occasionally gruff–guitarist Ben Verellen sometimes lets loose a sing-songy bellow–but never displeasing.
In short: it’s a record of the quality not standard since Sub Pop had their heyday. Also, despite the name, Night Terror is not terrifying, even when it’s dark out.
The band started in the summer of 2006, when Verellen, who played in criminally underappreciated noise-metallers Harkonen, started jamming with bassist Dana James. By October of that year, they found drummer Hozoji Matheson-Margullis and proceeded to go about their business of “just making noise.”
“We’re very uncalculating,” says Verellen, when the Vanguard caught up with him a couple days before starting a tour with Minus the Bear. “It’s really just about the three of us getting together and trying to have fun playing music, and coming up with songs. We don’t have a very clear plan, or any plan at all, for the future. It’s just, we like getting together and writing songs. That’s really as far as we think it through.”
But that means Helms Alee has the important part down: songwriting prowess, where songs can go from riff to riff, and melody to melody, always seeming succinct yet full; an effect which is weird, but in an entirely positive way. That’s probably because, according to Verellen, every member has a thoughtful hand in the band’s songwriting.
“I think that [Night Terror] is really cool because, more so than some other bands I’ve played in, it was a cohesive thing,” Verellen says. “Everyone was throwing in. All those songs were put together in the practice space between all three of us, with everybody contributing equally to the songs. It’s probably nothing that any one of us could have come up with on our own. That was a cool, inspiring thing, everyone taking cues from each other.”
Here’s another odd fact: the band’s name comes from a time when Verellen was immersed in sailing lore.
“Helms alee,” he says, “means ‘watch out!’ or ‘duck!’ … I thought that was kind of funny, a weird exclamation.”
There’s that word again. Maybe Helms Alee will become the sailing world’s “house band.” And is it weird that Helms Alee are finding an audience when Verellen’s previous band, Harkonen, which shared a few sonic similarities, went long unappreciated?
“It feels that way, yeah,” Verellen says. “People have been saying really nice things. And that’s really exciting … people were never really that enthused about Harkonen, and it was a little bit of a drag for me [and the rest of the band] because we worked really hard. People just didn’t seem to bite…. But it’s really kinda cool that with Helms Alee, people seem to be more interested. And I don’t know if it’s just that tastes have changed toward noisy, fuzzed-out rock–is that the deal? Or is it just something about the band? But people in Seattle seem to be diggin’ it.”
So, as Helms Alee sallies forth into the world, perhaps their weirdness will spread. We can only hope.
Helms Aleew/ Minus the Bear and AnnualsLewis and Clark College, Templeton Campus CenterNov. 21, 7 p.m.All ages