What's that I hear coming from the darken corner of your bedroom? Is it indie? Is it downtempo? It's kind of beautiful, and actually it's a combination of all three and more.
Firmly Indie, Slightly Psychedelic
Comprised of various members from space-indie-rock heroes Duster and Fruit Bats, Jason Albertini, Canan Amber, Adam Howery and Ross Peard make up Helvetia. With one eye on Broken Social Scene and the other firmly on Granddaddy, these rainy afternoon scientists from Seattle, WA mix such a shackling of musical elements it's hard to find one song that sounds the same.
Helvetia manage to mix psychedelic swirls of indie noise with that of lounge-pop melodies and sleepy vocals, thus creating something unconventional and for that it's ageless. All right, so The Clever North Wind does go on a bit, but it's still terrific, interesting and fresh.
Consider the dreamy catchy grooves of opener "Songs of the Ancient" where swirling indie rock jitter collides with raucous drum beats, creating the only true rock song. But don't fret - songs such as the wrist-slitting "Dead Hands", with its dark downtempo drumbeats and the slow thumping of "Hellawaitsya", are giddy-fizzy indie rock at its best.
The whiff of soft rock is present in the title track "The Clever North Wind", but elsewhere Helvetia gets all fuzzed-out AM pop, like on the closing track "The Drowning End", a tune reminiscent of the elegant lounge-pop melodies of Stereolab, minus Laetitia Sadier's sexy vocals.
Helvetia managed to make only one bad track, "Floaters". Full of unworthy percussion and odd '60s psychedelic organ sounds; who really needs it when the other fourteen tracks are so promising?
Unlike other lonely indie bands Helvetia's bread and butter is that of singer Jason Albertini. His vocals make you woozy at times, with all the right twist and turns, without leaving you sick.
On The Clever North Wind three things are clear: for one, it's guaranteed to make your fall significantly colder and rainier and two, we've may have found your new favorite band, which is a further reason for you to purchase Helvetia's debut album. Last, but certainly not least, you can catch them on tour this fall opening for the almighty Built to Spill.
