Helms Alee Is A Wooly Beast

If yer hearing thunder from a northwesterly direction, don’t close the windows yet – it might not be an actual storm. That could very well be Helms Alee, a man-woman-woman trio from Seattle that manages to shift between sounds that conjure alternating images of rampaging wooly mammoths and nimble hummingbirds. Weatherhead is their latest elpee, an expert blend of dense sonic heaviness and harmonic beauty.

In the middle of this ménage-a-noise is singer/guitarist/amplifier manufacturer (hence the clever/idiotic concept for this week’s Stripwax comic, ugh…) Ben Verellen, directing the tracks with his guitar by either playing pretty or atomizing the immediate surrounding area. Drummer and vocalist Hozoji Matheson-Margullis easily brings the thunder when needed, and bassist/vocalist Dana James adds the sludge-coat to the more aggressive tracks. The yin-yang approach works; if the elpee were entirely comprised of tracks like “8/16”, “Ripper No Lube” (omgwtf, right?) or “Speed Sk8r”, yer house might just collapse around you as yer listening.