November 4, 2011

This 5th edition of “This Is A Call” was actually inspired by a chance encounter I had yesterday with Mary Timony, the singer/guitarist that fronted the band HELIUM. I was on my lunch break, and she happened to skimming through vinyl records at the music/video store that I work at, so after much reluctance & shyness on my part, I finally walked over, said hello and introduced myself. (Turns out her new band WILD FLAG was actually filming a “What’s In My Band” segment, hence why she was at the store to begin with.) Regardless, Timony’s band HELIUM were on of my all time favorite bands of the 90′s. And when I say all time favorites, I’m talking top 5. Actually, most probably top 3 right behind Sunny Day Real Estate and Nirvana.

The first time I saw the band was when they only had two 7 inch releases available (The American Jean and Hole In The Ground) and they were opening for The Juliana Hatfield 3 (with Dig also on the bill) in New York City on the day of a huge blizzard that almost prevented my friends and I from going to the show. I can’t explain it, but that set was like nothing I’d ever heard before. A female fronted guitarist playing complicated chord progressions (rather than power chords like most of the ‘riot grrl’ bands I was in love with at the time) with dreamy, monotone vocals, a rock solid drummer in Shawn King Devlin. Thumbing bass from then bass player Brian Dunton – Helium was loud, noisy, melodic and strangely addictive. After that, I pretty much followed every HELIUM release and show. Hell, my “first date” with my first real girlfriend was to a HELIUM gig in New Jersey. So it’s safe to say that their music holds a lot of sentimental value to me.

So, the featured video for this segment will be their single Superball from their first full length feature album “The Dirt Of Luck“. (Although their first EP “Pirate Prude” stands out as a pretty impressive debut, which you should seek out asap!) The video for Superball captures the quirky, oddball nature of the band:

And as a bonus, I’ll have to include Pat’s Trick from The Dirt Of Luck.

And last but not least, HELIUM‘s first video “XXX” from their first EP “Pirate Prude“, which features some of the darkest lyrics ever. (Hence why I fell in love with this band to begin with!) Enjoy!