Glasgow heavyweights Helicon have been blowing minds across the UK with their esoteric noise for the best part of a decade. After becoming infamous for their live performances they finally released their debut self-titled LP in 2017 to critical acclaim. Thankfully we’ve not had to long to wait for the next offering as they release new EP Zero Fucks today.
Recorded live, mixed and produced in one day at Glasgow’s Green Door Studio, the new EP is comprised of three instrumentals that strip things down to their raw fundamentals and allow the band’s expansive song writing prowess to shine through. Talking about the EP, vocalist and guitarist John-Paul Hughes explains: “We wrote the tracks on this record as we were preparing to tour ahead of Fuzz Club Eindhoven 2018. We wanted some new high-energy material for our live set and these three tracks went down so well in Eindhoven that we decided to get into the studio as quickly as possible to record them and try to capture what was happening at that moment.”
Opening track ‘Phil Mitchell’d’ is a high octane kick to the gut from the offset which the band describe as being about getting off your fucking nut and causing carnage” inspired by one particularly-ridiculous drunken night out involving a DJ set from Steve McFadden (Phil from EastEnders), wrestling with door-staff and watching a middle-aged couple get it on on the dance floor while staring everyone out. The waves of electronica that reverberate throughout create a sway within the chaos only gifted musicians can achieve.
‘Come On Get Off’ has hints of a sound from bygone days in a different intonation and exudes an ominous foreboding. The hook of the guitar riff is instantaneous and refuses to let up. This is the kind of track you’ll be humming for hours without realising. Concluding ‘I Hate Everyone But I Quite Like You’ begins softly, almost hesitantly, invoking a dreamscape before traversing into a warped far-out groove. Of the track the band say that “Like the title, it’s a song of two halves that completely shifts in dynamic halfway through. The way your life does when someone completely different comes into it. It’s probably about as close to a love song as we’d ever write.”
If you want music that unashamedly grabs you by the throat and kicks you in the gut simultaneously (musically speaking), Helicon are the band for you.
