Stagestruck
HELMET/TOTIMOSHI
@Gypsy Tea Room, Dallas, TX
November 23, 2004
The new Nirvana box set is making the news these days, taking us fans back a decade or more to when the media labeled some of the great sounds emerging from the Pacific Northwest "grunge" and we all moshed along.
At the same time something equally important was occurring out of New York. Standing in sharp contrast to Nirvana's beastly pop filth was Helmet with its angular anti-metal, clean-burning and pure. Page Hamilton, late of Band of Susans and Glenn Branca's glorious noise symphonies, melded his master's degree in jazz guitar with distortion of the most thunderous sort. It didn't gain as much popular ground as its Seattle kin, but Helmet was just as important in its role as savior from the 80s' leather trousered hair metal bands.
Being in Helmet isn't easy, apparently, as Hamilton remained the only constant through several lineup shifts that knocked out a fistful of fine albums, culminating in '97's woefully underrated Aftertaste. Citing overall burnout, the group members went their separate ways, and remained dormant until now.
Hamilton and Chris Traynor, who came aboard long about Aftertaste, have rounded out the foursome with drummer John Tempesta (Rob Zombie, Testament) and bassist Frank Bello (Anthrax). Their new studio album, Size Matters, is an interesting step forward, with polished edges replacing some of the musculature. The album is controversial among the faithful, as some can't come to grips with the progression. And indeed, it's a bit off-putting to hear layered vocals and graspable choruses. But Helmet fans should pride themselves on appreciating a challenge; Size Matters begs for repeated listens for that very reason, and indeed, it does become more rewarding each time.
On a rainy night in Dallas, years after it seemed like Helmet had any chance of mattering anymore, the Gypsy Tea Room was comfortably packed with the faithful, a mix of mid-30s (and older) fans from way back and younger ones who perhaps found their way to Hamilton et al through shout-outs from bands like Linkin Park and Limp Bizkit.
The room erupted as the band launched into "Pure." "Successive thoughts you don't have/But you still pretend," barked Hamilton over a wall of lock-step distortion rumble. The band rode the momentum as they kicked off "Smart," one of the best songs from the new CD. Ditto for the next song, "Crashing Foreign Cars," and over the course of the set they played seven or eight songs from Size Matters. "See You Dead" was another good new choice; "Sometimes I get so down/You're not around and I'd rather/See you dead" is about as close to sentimentality as songwriter Hamilton's ever come.
From there the new songs came off alternately as boldness (like the disarming dynamics of "Enemies") and dogged determination to make the crowd appreciate the new material ("Unwound"). "We've got a new CD that we like a lot," Hamilton said, which seemed to mean, "We like this CD, and damn it, we think you should too." The band clearly had a ball, as Hamilton chatted gamely with the crowd and clowned around. Bello was positively manic, audibly yelling between songs even away from his microphone. His backing vocals filled out the live sound admirably.
Like Bello, Traynor had obvious fun, his face reflecting the crowd's excitement when they launched into "In the Meantime." We were dying to hear some of the baddest songs ever set to 1s and 0s, and Traynor was as happy to give as we were to get. The new songs weren't momentum-killers, but of course, classics like "Unsung," "It's Easy to Get Bored," "Bad Mood," "Wilma's Rainbow and "Ironhead" were met with unfettered glee.
The sound was crisp and huge, and the band played well together, save for a couple of insignificant stumbles that only served to add a human side to Helmet's brand of math metal. Over the course of 75-odd minutes Hamilton and Traynor peeled and howled where other guitarists would have wanked, and Tempesta held it all together more than respectably (though former drummer John Stanier's almost piccolo-sounding snare drum is missed). Hopefully this lineup is at the beginning of another stretch of albums and tours; it would be great to hear them make music together for years to come.
The crowd was fairly receptive to a bludgeoning set by openers Totimoshi (think Kyuss circa Sky Valley). Though their sound paled in comparison to the headliners' overall oomph, they bravely dove into their knuckle-dragging mini-suites. This band is now on the "to check out" list. Brian Briscoe
