Seeing Eye Dog

About

Helmet leader Page Hamilton has been making unorthodox heavy music for decades. While his group is really him and the nearest men standing, Helmet still signifies a tight and concise aural torture. The group’s first albums remain among their most significant, but 2010’s <i>Seeing Eye Dog</i> has plenty of attitude. Helmet arrange their music to work at different levels. “LA Water” has harmonies and conventional verses and choruses, but the sound keeps moving around the room. Guitars bounce into space while a repetitive drone lurks in the background. “So Long” hints at metal while gently moving towards post-punk. “In Person” adds a guitar shimmer that mutates into a driving punk backbeat. “Morphing” is a stringed instrumental. “White City” broods like Soundgarden. The Beatles’ “And Your Bird Can Sing” gets a peculiar makeover. “She’s Lost” and “Miserable” channel that ‘90s grunge angst. The live tracks from the 2006 Warped Tour are jarring and tough, a further reminder of the band’s tense and terse legacy. (“Thanks for being here <i>this morning</i>,” says Hamilton, after waking any sleeping person within miles of his stage.)

via Apple Music