It takes a certain type of hipster to really dig Hella. Probably male, probably a guitar player or a drummer, probably smokes a lot of weed. Anyways, Hella are back, and for those of us that fit the profile, we couldn’t be more pleased. After the group’s deep existential crisis which subjected their fans to 2005’s unbalanced Speakerboxxx/The Love Below style solo project-cum-double disc Chirpin’Hard/Church Gone Wild, the Sacramento math rock outfit experimented with expanded four- and five-man line-ups for the hotly anticipated, but ultimately disappointing There Is No 666 In Outer Space in 2007. Fans that were drawn in by Spencer Seim (guitar) and Zach Hill’s (drums) mastery of the guitar/drum duo feared that perhaps all was lost. Indeed time has proven that with Hella, less is more – the group’s most impressive recording to date remains their 2006 Japan-only EP Acoustics, a selection of home recordings that striped down their electrified (and at times electronic) sound to the simple patter of hands on skin and fingers on strings, thus revealing the basic structure of some of their most popular songs and their hitherto unknown semblance to traditional Indian music.
But since 2007 things have been quiet. After declaring that the future of Hella, "[is] in a really grey area right now," in 2008, Zach Hill’s star has risen, moonlighting with Marnie Stern (QRO photos), El Grupo Nuevo de Omar Rodriguez Lopez, and Wavves (QRO album review) amongst others. But what of the Hella brand? Those of us who care about such things were thrilled to see the video for "Self Check Out" surface on the web back in April. Perhaps even more striking that the blow-up-body-suit that is the video’s star was the apparent return to the duo format. Gone were the vocals, the synths, and the bass that had muddied the last proper Hella album; hard-edged shred over schizo-drums seemed to once again be the order of the day.
A few of the deep cuts, such as "Furthest" and the excellent "Yubacore", do involve some synth and drum machine dabbling, but now these elements serve as changes of pace and choices of texture instead of distracting from the Seim and Hill’s technical prowess. In this respect, long-time fans may be reminded of the hybrid sound of their 2003 EP Total Bugs Bunny Wild on Bass. Another stand out track is "Kid Life Crisis", which, true to its title, does manage to sum up an earlier time when things (or guitars at least) were clearer and all that mattered was rock ‘n’ roll and the use of a guitar as a social-interactive tool.
Another instrumental rock group, Explosions in the Sky (QRO album review), have been criticized for producing a watered down version of the same album they recorded half a decade previously. Hella come dangerously close to that same situation with Tripper. To be sure this album is more like their 2004 sophomore output The Devil Isn’t Red than anything they’ve done sine, and to be doubly sure this album lacks the memorable riffs and dynamics of that album or their excellent 2003 debut, Hold Your Horse Is. Nevertheless Spencer Seim has once again proven that he is simply one of the most expressive guitar players on the planet while Zach Hill on the other hand has nothing to prove to anyone. Tripper does just enough to keep us interested, but more than anything it’s a symbolic message to their fanbase that they’ve sorted things out and that they’ve decided to stay together for the kids.
MP3 Stream: "Kid Life Crisis"
