REVIEW: Helium Angel, Early Clue To The New Direction
(Pilot Error)
- Bill Holmes
When your record starts off with a Keith Moon drum flourish, a staccato beat, and harmonies right out of The Small Faces, you have my attention! Mods and rockers, meet seaside please! Though San Francisco based, Helium Angel draws inspiration directly from early Britpop bands like the Kinks, Zombies and Who and blends it with the West Coast psych-pop of The Byrds for an irresistible result.
Although the band retains garage pop sensibilities, the production on this small label release are first rate. Drummer Stephen Cass, who engineered the record, is able to capture his energetic drum sound without overemphasizing it, and the vocals he and guitarist Blake Ricks create sound at once individual and in unison.
Like all good psych-pop records, there are many obtuse lyrics to chew on, but also several more conventionally great turns of phrase ("forgive me if I seem too cautious/ that you seem so nice/ but if I won the lottery/ I'd check the number twice"). Still, for me it's the music that truly sells this record. While being reverent to Mod, it sounds as perfect as a 1990's statement as it would have in the 1960's. "Motorcade," with it's great choppy guitar rhythms and spiraling chorus, is absolutely majestic. "Lizard," which morphs from a tremolo guitar workout into a psychedelic jam, is another high point, as is the beautiful piano ballad "One Glass." The fourteen original tunes are followed by a Billy Bragg cover ("Accident Waiting To Happen") that closes the record.
This is yet another case of a band worthy of much bigger attention not yet getting the exposure it deserves. For more information about the band, e-mail blakericks (at) yahoo.com.
