Unnatural Helpers = Best Band in Seattle
I have loved this band since their first lineup, which featured Dean (the main songwriter) on drums and vocals, Lars (the brains behind the Intelligence) on guitar, and Jed (former guitarist of the Ninja Boners) on bass. Funny enough, at this same time, this was also the lineup of the Intelligence, the era when they recorded the songs for the Popular Shapes split 7″on Dirtnap. This lineup of the Unnatural Helpers can be heard on Babyhead comp on SS records.
Many lineups later, the Unnatural Helpers are still totally kicking the shit out of any other rock band out there today. The current lineup, which must be something like six or seventh, now features guitarist Chris from Kinski, Kimberley from the Fallouts on Bass, Mike from Dean’s old band Double Fudge on guitar, and of course, Dean on drums and vocals. With a lineup like that and with Dean at the helm, it’s no wonder they kick out the jams full force-style.
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Yes, this show happened, and it was pretty good
Who here first saw Times New Viking after hearing “Dig Yourself” and thought “Thank God they delivered!” I bought my wife “Dig” when it first came out for a Christmas present and by God I had to suppress the urge to steal their riffs because they were that good, goddamn it (though I couldn’t help thinking that “Skull Vs. Wizard” was just a new take on songs like “Santa Monica” by Everclear and “My Own Worst Enemy” by Lit.) “Presents the Paisley Reich” took some getting used to, but it was the last thing I listened to before I got married and listening to “Hiding in Machines” really did make everything look like it was going to be alright… (you would need to know the back story for that shit.)
I knew I was traveling to Seattle that week they were touring but I made arrangements with some great friends to go straight to Portland so we could catch their show with the Hunches. Sure, we couldve flown directly to Portland, but adding a road trip to the ordeal made it more exciting.
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An amazing recording of San Francisco’s next Vashti Bunyan
I’m not much of a fan of singer/songwriter folk pop. Really, you put the words “singer” and “songwriter” together and I’m hit with horrible flashbacks of the days of “Lilith Fair.” But for me, the Finches are different, for two reasons: 1. They have awesome influences — Vashti Bunyan being one very awesome and obvious one, and 2. They write undeniably catchy songs that are not far off from the folk songs that influenced our favorite punk bands. (I actually figured out one song, “House Under a Hill,” and realized its verse was based on a “punk rock box” chord-structure* — C #, G #, D #, A # — but played as a waltz instead of a 4/4.)
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