Description

Black vinyl with gatefold cover and printed innersleeve

After a four year hiatus, legendary experimentalist duo Hella released Tripper, their fifth album, on the 30th of August 2011. The old cliché about less is more rears its head, with Hella now pared down to the original 2 piece line-up. The core that founded the band remains: guitarist Spencer Seim and drummer Zach Hill. The former continues to coax fretboard wizardry from eccentric custom-made axes; the latter – sometime sticksman with Wavves, plus Deftones and The Mars Volta side projects – is an impressive study in perpetual motion. His idiosyncratically hectic technique ensures more scattershot beats per minute than an arrhythmia sufferer’s ECG reading. Tripper finds Hella in classic frenetic anthemic form and it marks a subtle sea change of sorts, twisting snaking experimentalism into some of their most palatable shapes. Yet, at the same time they refuses to lose the kinetic charms that have made them a cult concern. Evidence of their increased ability to extricate melody from madness appears early in the triumphant refrains of opener Headless. The twosome wrings beauty out of anarchic aural fragments, in a similar manner to confirmed Hella devotee/Hill collaborator Marnie Stern. It’s a pattern repeated across Tripper, to the extent that it’s only by the conclusion of its 10 tracks that you truly ponder that there are no vocals to be found here. If you like loud, instrumental, heavy rock music and dont own this album, you are NOT doing yourself any favours. Buy it now

Track list:
1. Headless
2. Self Checkout
3. Long Hair
4. Yubacore
5. Netgear
6. Kid Life Crisis
7. On The Record
8. Furthest
9. Psycho Bro
10. Osaka