Helmet — Betty
Track Listing
- Wilma's Rainbow
- I Know
- Biscuits for Smut
- Milquetoast
- Tic
- Rollo
- Street Crab
- Clean
- Vaccination
- Beautiful Love
- Speechless
- The Silver Hawaiian
- Overrated
- Sam Hell
Album Review
The good news with this album is that if you like one song, you will enjoy the whole thing. Of course in saying that, I am obliged to point out that it is difficult to tell the tracks apart, you can leave the room for 15 minutes, come back and swear you are listening to the same song. I love that song though and have had a place in my heart for this album for a long time.
For Helmet it was one heck of a departure, and this album alienated much of their hardcore audience, but for someone like me who is into some melody, it's the reason I got into the band. It's edgy rock without being screamy and irritating and without sounding synthetic, not to mention their signature drum timing is even more visible here. "Wilma's Rainbow", and "Milquetoast" were pretty much the hits on this one ("Milquetoast" even appears on the soundtrack for The Crow but it's spelled "Milktoast" there), but I liked "Speechless", and "Overrated" the best...and yes those two songs sound particularly identical.
Helmet is one of those bands that has a very distinctive driving sound that either you'll like or you won't, and if you like your bands hard, start earlier on with them, but if you are like me and appreciate something you can hum to, start here with Helmet.
A Second Perspective
Betty is most interesting when Helmet let something strange into their tightly controlled sound. The familiar chopped chords and abrupt stops are still here, but the band seems less concerned with keeping every song inside the same boundaries. A crooked groove, a stretch of clean guitar, or an awkward little detour can change the mood without making the music any less physical.
"Wilma's Rainbow" makes a convincing opening argument. The riff has weight, but the rhythm gives it a spring that keeps the song moving. John Stanier's drumming is central to that balance: he can make an accent feel like a shove, then leave just enough room for Henry Bogdan's bass to pull the next phrase forward. The playing is precise without losing its sense of friction.
"Milquetoast" works through contrast. Its quieter passages let the tension gather before the guitars return, and Page Hamilton's vocal melody gives the song something to hold onto beyond its impact. "Biscuits for Smut" finds another angle, with a loping rhythm that makes the band's heaviness feel almost playful. These songs share a vocabulary, but their different movements matter.
The less predictable moments are part of the appeal, too. "Beautiful Love" brings a jazz standard into the middle of the record, while the closing "Sam Hell" leaves things on an odd, twanging note. Neither is as immediately satisfying as the strongest full-band songs. Both make the album feel like the work of musicians willing to follow an idea somewhere inconvenient.
That willingness also makes Betty a little uneven. Some stretches deliver a familiar riff with less distinction, and the experiments interrupt the momentum as often as they enrich it. Still, the interruptions give the best songs room to stand out. This is a heavy record with an unusual amount of personality: stern, rhythmically restless, occasionally funny, and more inviting each time its details begin to register.
Helmet • Listen on Apple Music
