Betty - Helmet (1994)

ideated from: 1994 is still the greatest year in music history

Page Hamilton went to school to study jazz guitar and got into the NYC no-wave / noisecore scene instead. I’m not really sure you can hear any jazz influence in Helmet, unless its maybe the polished textures and steady groove.

Regardless, Hamilton and Helmet made a couple of monster albums, this being the best as far as I’m concerned.

I love the rock-solid drumming, and the fact that it’s recorded so crisply. It’s a great punctuation for the bottomless lake of guitar sludge. Even with that sludge, though, the band shapes it into something sharp at times, with some wicked “Math Sabbath”-style riffs.

Tracks I Liked

Wilma’s Rainbow - the ultimate Helmet song, I’d argue. Everything they do well all at once.

Biscuits For Smut - the grooviest of grooves

Tic - In your face, like everything else here, and yet somehow moreso

Street Crab - More oblique lyrics and singable refrains