Review Summary: A strange entity within the Helmet catalogue that proves itself to be just as worthy of listen as the rest of their discography
Part IV - Primitive Ways
The thing that makes
Helmet’s 1995 outtakes compilation
Born Annoying stand out from their discography the most is how un-Helmet it sounds. It’s very primitive, even for their standards. It’s way too goofy and oddball to be comparable to albums such as
Meantime, and it’s way messier and, at times, more destructive than some of the material found on
Strap It On. You can clearly hear a heavy
Sonic Youth influence on tracks like “Taken” and “Geisha to Go”, making it one of the weirder recordings Helmet has ever released.
Like I mentioned above, the songs here are very playful for Helmet standards. The instrumental “Rumble” is odd, the guitars sound as if they were being sawed in half with a chainsaw, and the bass sounds like the musical equivalent to gargling sounds. Is any of this a bad thing, though? Does the strange, outlandish tone of the album ruin it’s quality? Not at all! In fact, it actually ends up making the album even more entertaining than it really should be.
“Your Head” shows the band’s punk roots very well, the stop-n-go riffage is killer, and Hamilton’s frantic vocals add extra spice to the track. The bouncy, buzzing bass line to “Primitive” gives the track this charm to it, making it impossible to not crack a smile when listening to it. The title track is hands down the heaviest song here, and both versions remind us that Helmet can write a mean riff, the 1989 version being incredibly messy and raw, while the 1993 version is much more clean and slick, production wise.
Of course, as most b-side compilations show us, there are many tracks here that remind us exactly why they were b-sides in the first place. For example, “Oven” is definitely the weakest track here. It’s starts out promising, with a nasty riff and even nastier vocals, only to quickly fall apart as a messy, boring attempt at being heavy.
Out of everything Helmet has ever released,
Born Annoying sticks out as one of their most intriguing listens, due to the fact that it feels like it’s own entity rather than a collection of unreleased tracks. It’s voice is unique within the Helmet catalogue, making for a fun listen and one not easy to forget.
