Review: Party of Helicopters

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Party of Helicopters
“Please Believe It”
(Velocette)

Call me a rube, but I’ve never heard Party Of Helicopters. Always wondered, but never heard any talk or read any descriptive reviews. So I went uninformed until this very moment. And goddamn, what was I thinking. This is brilliant. Another Ohio export that will leave you floored if you let it. Equal parts metal, prog, indie (sometimes read ’emo’) and even a bit of soul, this amalgam of sounds and structures will no doubt be filed away as one of the many misunderstood, before-its-time bands only to be dug up and regaled as one of the ‘godfathers’ of let’s say, ‘eclectorock’ (remember that I coined that name).

Hard to classify, mainly due to the varied sounds, think metal guitars, math structures, indie vocals and overall goodness. Or how about Hum on cocaine? I’m leery of exploring their back-catalogue, considering how this rock-bomb has affected me; could an older album really do this for me again? Based on experience, no. But, everyone should be able to enjoy this one.