Nothing in Rambling

Personnel: Jason Albertini (vocals, guitar); Canaan Dove Amber (vocals, drums); Jim Roth (guitar); Steve Gere (organ).
Audio Mixer: Rick Fisher .
Recording information: The Very Tall Trees, CA.
Helvetia's seventh album finds the Pacific Northwest act happily settled into a productive and often engaging strain of indie rock that stands out a bit from the crowd by looking backwards a touch before neo-pomp-rock and campfire singalongs ran rampant. The shoegazey and drifty zone evident behind the central acoustic strum of "Pumpkin Rose" suggests fusions like Lenola and the Swirlies, a little bit of '90s indie on the relative cheap. In slight contrast' "RyBro" and "Nettles" feel more like a lo-fi doodling crunch, perhaps, the latter alternating between freakouts and shimmering chugs, while "Stay Wild" skips along and "The Thing" makes you feel like you just want to happily exist in a corner somewhere surrounded by warm tones and a feeling you're somewhere between the year 1910 and the Tall Dwarfs. "A Mirror," with its tense rhythm -- the bass may actually be the key to the song more than anything else -- underscores the slightly more sweet singing and soft electric guitar parts, as well as the warm organ tones, while the relatively clean and crisp "Nothing in Rambling" feels a bit like "Ashes to Ashes" by Bowie gone through extra vocal wooziness. Meanwhile, the all-acoustic start to "What You Wanted" feels like the logical conclusion and wrapup before the guitar solo helps stretch and zone out -- a fine way to end an enjoyable effort. ~ Ned Raggett