Search - Hella :: Acoustics

Gastr Del Sol on a steady diet of crystal meth and cocaine

Aquarius Records | San Francisco | 09/17/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"You wouldn't think that a band revisiting their past would make us fall in love with them all over again but that is precisely the case with this new ep from Hella. Acoustics finds Hella reworking some of their early songs but this time done all acoustic! Hella + acoustic? "Huh? What? How?", you might be asking yourself, but the answer is a huge big colorful YES!!!



We have to admit we were getting a little cold on the whole Hella thing, but with Acoustics they have totally regained our attention and recaptured our hearts, with their intricate spazzy convoluted prog laid totally bare (err... well acoustic at least). Hard to imagine Hella acoustic, but it's pretty darn cool, maybe like Gastr Del Sol on a steady diet of crystal meth and cocaine, or a more manic Cheval De Frise. While it's easy to sound crazed and weird and spastic with amps turned to eleven and feedback busting out of every speaker, it's a whole lot harder to maintain that same sort of intensity with no electricity at all. That's what separates Hella from so much of the spazzy pack. Sure anyone can freak out hidden behind huge amps and silly costumes, but only the truly talented and demented can knock your block off with an all acoustic record. We think someone should slip a copy of this to Tom Waits as Hella in this incarnation would make the perfect backing band for his next record. OK, Lightning Bolt, Wolf Eyes, Black Dice -- the gauntlet has been thrown down... can you get it up up when the power is out? Hella sure as hell can! So totally recommended!"