I’m excited at the prospect of listening to Black Helicopter’s album ‘Don’t Fuck with the Apocalypse.’ The name of the band, album and tracks such as ‘Pickle Jar,’ ‘Idiot Son,’ and ‘King Shit’ are brilliant. This is going to be heavy, it’s going to be gritty and it’s going to be angry I’m sure of it.
Maybe not... On first listen it’s not as heavy as the name suggests. Nor is it particularly angry. It sounds a bit like Pixies or Everclear, maybe even a little like Dinosaur Jr; it has got some grittiness but with a bit of a pop sheen to it. Front man Tim Shea has a couldn’t-care-less kind of voice; it’s not overly memorable and he doesn’t sound particularly passionate; it sounds like he’s tired and just wants to get things done. The guitars drone along the root of every chord with some very sketchy sounding lead parts adding instrumental harmonies tucked in there as well. By track three it’s all become very repetitive and quite boring to be completely honest.
So what of those intriguing songs I mentioned earlier? ‘Pickle Jar’ starts with some very weak sounding drums; there’s no power behind them, partly down to the playing but mainly due to the recording. The song is about going shopping, renting a film and buying a jar of pickle, then going home to eat the pickle while watching the film. Not exciting. ‘Idiot Son’ is a bit more upbeat, still somehow lacking energy though. There are a couple of attempts at guitar solos in there which should add that excitement I’m on the hunt for. They don’t. Finally ‘King Shit’ just does nothing for me, like the rest of the album it sounds uninspired, tired and almost like it’s a little embarrassed of itself. There is a two minute instrumental in the middle that shouldn’t be there. Really it just sounds like a bad attempt at being prog rock.
I really want to like this album, if only because of its name and song titles, but I struggle to do so. I found it hard to listen to and instantly forgettable… 1/10
http://www.myspace.com/blackhelicopter
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