Times are weird. You know it, I know it, Helpful People know it. The majority of us are facing struggle of one kind or another. Kindness and truth crushed beneath power grabs and petty politics, art continuously devalued and discarded. Bay Area creatives have consistently been a shining light in the fight back against such overwhelming grimness, and this project features two of the very best.
For those not already aware, Helpful People combines the talents of Glenn Donaldson (The Reds, Pinks & Purples) and Carly Putnam (The Oilies), and on debut album Brokenblossom Threats they have tapped into what it is to be an artist, what it is to be human, in these strangest of days.
Whilst chiming lead single Bugs From Below proved that Donaldson’s fuzz-infused janglepop brew is as potent as ever, it is Putnam’s presence here that brings new energy and a different kind of magic. Her vocals are delivered plainly and without affectation, ensuring each abstract truth cuts through with a pure, raw power, like jagged fragments of some distant dream.
As the album progresses, subtly different grooves and ideas rise to the surface. Your Movie contains an insidious guitar riff that offsets the jangle operating at its core, whilst Backwards Mirror is driven by fiercely melodic acoustic guitars that become increasingly buried by swathes of ocean deep feedback, as the song and all of its pent-up emotion threaten to spiral out of control.
Across Brokenblossom Threats’ twelve tracks, Helpful People have taken a familiar formula and injected it with new life. A collaboration between two such creative souls was always likely to yield special results, and with this album Putnam and Donaldson have created a work of great depth and a very real beauty.
Available now via Tall Texan (Vinyl) or Burundi Cloud Music (Digital)
Vinyl available in the UK here.
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