Weekly Release Spotlight: Hella

Posted on 9/04/2011

Hella
Tripper
Sargent House

The first fall day has finally sunk in, and any Minnesotan is already in the mindset for settling into ‘real life/college life.’ No longer are we looking for that perfect song to drive around to or travel across the country. Hella’s newest release ‘Tripper’ out on Sargent House is the perfect album to settle into the fall with, but still has enough melody to move to. Even though they took time off to work on separate projects, there’s a beautiful immediacy to this album that demands it be paid attention to as it deserves. As an instrumental effort, the pair blend mathy rock movements with almost tribal drumbeats on tracks like “Osaka.” Challenging yet engaging, at almost exactly 40 minutes this album careens throughout your the ripples in your mind, keeping you constantly alert to see when Seim brings in his Nintendo roots and adds the synth to the mix of guitar and drums.

One of the most commonly perceived disgruntlements of instrumental music is that it sometimes strays on the boring sideto the point that it’s instantly elevator music. On Hella’s fifth overall album, and the first after a four year hiatus where drummer Zach Hill worked on his solo project and Spencer Seim worked on sBACH (Suicide Squeeze), the duo were able to capture extremely melodic yet brutal moments that only these two masterminds could perform. As a duo that’s worked with numerous amounts of musicians over their decade as a band, there’s a certain magic that comes with a musical relationship that has spanned so many projects and albums and still beats with vibrancy and an urgency as if they had no choice. Each open moment has it’s purpose; Hill provides a nurturing structure for Seim to fill in with quick heavy riffs interspersed with melodic yet almost jazzy rhythmic strings.

While many of the tracks dictate any specific emotion or experience, a few of the tracks seem to have a set storyline such as “Psycho Bro,” where the contrasting distorted muffled guitar bashing is coupled next to a cleaner sounding where Seim warps the sound to reflect the attitudes. This album fully engages your earbuds, and keeps you involved as you get tossed around on the journey of sound that is the relationship that Seim and Hill have created. Enjoy.

Written by Caleigh Souhan, Radio K Music Director

Stream: Hella - "Yubacore"

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