Helen Earth Band – (We All) Talk With Knives [Review]
Helen Earth Band is the latest incarnation of brothers Marc and Adam Allen, who previously played together in the criminally-underrated San Diego band, Counterfit . Counterfit was known for its unique blend of Southern California pop-punk and midwestern emo, drawing comparisons to bands like Mock Orange and Braid.
With Helen Earth Band, the Allen’s have built upon their old sound, drawing on new influences and instruments. Their latest single, “(We All) Talk With Knives,” is a pitch-perfect example of this progression.
The song swirls in a complex web of guitars, vocals and keyboards. The guitar lines feed off of one another in increasing complexity over ever-changing time signatures, all the while retaining a subtlety that prevents them from ever getting in the way. The vocals are similarly complementary, passed between the two primary vocalists and regularly augmented by the inclusion of a third vocal line. What they may be talking about in terms of content, I haven’t the faintest idea, except that its with knives, which can’t be a good thing. In any case, it’s not what they sing, but how they sing it. And damn they sing well.
The guitar and vocals are are sandwiched between a buzzing, ethereal keyboard and a steady, driving bass, giving the song a constant sense of movement and space. And it’s all anchored by rock-solid drums played with military precision. The drumming is deceptively complex, a seemingly straight beat that rarely repeats itself and accents the individual elements of the song at exactly the right moments. If you don’t believe me, try this: isolate the drums and vocals in your head, then do the same with the drums and the guitars, etc. It’s baffling.
But wait, you don’t need to imagine, we have an amazing video that does it for us.
Watching this video is like opening up the back of a grandfather clock, revealing in bright detail how each of the parts works independently to form an interconnected whole. You’ll be forgiven for not realizing that the backlights change between white, black, and an array of hazy blues and red bulbs. No matter. By focusing on the music, the video creates a further appreciation for the process of songwriting and live execution, shifting the focus from fashion to function.
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