[music]
Opposites attract Helms Alee harnesses the friction by Jason McMackin
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[20] Missoula Independent • March 28 – April 4, 2013
We all love opposites. We love the crunch of Oreo gullis explains how the Capitol Theater in Olympia, cookies’ dark outsides and we love their white, creamy Wash., shaped her musical path. “It was the all-ages venue that showed me most of centers. We love it when Steven Tyler sings, “Livin’ it up when I’m goin’ down” on “Love in an Elevator.” And in my favorite music when I was a bun,” she writes. “I was rom-coms like Sleepless in Seattle, we love Tom Hanks 15 years old when I got my drum kit and just months later I saw both Unwound and Karp.” and disdain Meg Ryan (like, a lot). Those early influences helped inform Helms Alee’s Opposites create tension and friction, and tension and friction create heat and energy. Helms Alee has har- sound. When Matheson-Margullis is asked to describe the band, she refernessed that hot heat to ences a friend who create energetic tunes calls it “raw, powerful that are as ballsy as and fun.” It’s an apt they are beautiful, description, and part tunes that crush of the reason Total eardrums with crusty Fest founder Josh sub-sonic bass growls, Vanek says the event’s brutal screams and planning committee warlike drums. But the invited Helms Alee to trio can also cause one headline the Zoo City to ruminate about blowout. “They’re a what life would be like thoroughly awesome inside a well-decorated and kind of jaw-droptreehouse through pingly inspiring band arpeggios dripping that has to be seen with the echo of reverb live to be fully appreand somber female ciated, and it’s been harmonies. The band too long since anycan shift the mood in body’s gotten a mere seconds or over chance to do that the course of an entire around here,” Vanek album. It does this Ben Verellen of Helms Alee says. without a trace of gimshreds at Total Fest XI. mickry. In other Helms Alee has words, Helms Alee doesn’t veer tonally just to show us a lot of new material, but no current record label as it can, but because it sounds as if it always should. Hydra Head Records ceased releasing new albums. Helms Alee is a six-year-old trio based out of Seattle No matter, though. The band launched a Kickstarter made up of drummer Hozoji Matheson-Margullis, campaign to help record and release a third fullbassist Dana James and guitarist Ben Verellen. Total Fest length, Sleepwalking Sailors. The fundraiser surfans are likely aware that Verellen was in the influential passed its goal of $5,000 just this week. People can post-hardcore outfit Harkonen while Matheson-Mar- still donate to receive a copy of the release. gullis also performs in the duo Lozen. The local familMatheson-Margullis describes the new tracks as iarity goes both ways, as the band members say they’re “more adventurous” in terms of melody. “But none of down with Missoula, as well. us can resist distorted power chord riffs,” she adds. “So “Total Fest is definitely held dear by Helms Alee,” there’s still plenty of that.” Matheson-Margullis writes in an email interview. “We As the band gets in its van to race across the eastern have close friends in town. Getting to ice our nuts in Washington scablands for its current tour, Mathesonthe river with them and all the awesome bands that Margullis describes how it will all go down: “Dana and travel to the Fest is something we look forward to all I sing Campfire Girls songs for the boys [Verellen and a year long.” roadie] for the first few hours. Then we argue about It’s a shame that Helms Alee’s latest visit is for the things we agree on for a while. Then we usually break show that’s closing down the area’s only viable all-ages out some ’90s R&B to heat up the mood before we roll rock ’n’ roll venue. The March 30 Zoo City Apparel into town.” blowout is a fundraiser for Total Fest and a goodbye to It’s not hard to imagine one last white Ford Econothe space. The shuttering of Zoo City means all-ages line van rolling into the Zoo City Apparel parking lot, shows will likely return to the basements of college-aged blaring Boyz II Men’s “Motownphilly” and Helms Alee kids’ rentals, where things can get pretty drunk and singing along. “Motownphilly’s back again / Doin’ a little high. Sure, plenty of folks got their toot on at Zoo City, east coast swing / Boyz II Men going off / Not too hard, and maybe that girl I once saw splayed out in the corner not too soft.” vomiting in her purse probably had a tough time in her Helms Alee, Crys, Vacation Club, Total Comeconomics class the next day, but overall the space was bined Weight and Monster W/ 21 Faces play the a safe, cuckoo fun place to see amazing touring and Zoo City Apparel farewell blowout Sat., March 30, local acts. at 6 PM. $9/$7 advance at Ear Candy and online All-ages venues like Zoo City Apparel also serve as at totalfest.org. incubators for youngsters seeking inspiration and direction, and that’s not lost on Helms Alee. Matheson-Mararts@missoulanews.com