Jason Albertini was in a fairly recent line-up of Built to Spill, and his own Duster, of course, but he continues to make memorable indie-rock via his Helvetia project. The band's latest, This Devastating Map, drops on Joyful Noise Recordings on Friday. It's spacious and a bit trippy, but in a way that fans of BtS will find thankfully familiar.
"Inverted" unfurls with slow deliberation, the guitar-lines here insistent but languid ones, while "How Does It Feel?" lurches in such a way that suggests the best American indie-rock of the Clinton years. That's not to say that Helvetia is a band out of time, but, rather, that they're making something here that I've missed. This is ramshackle, sure, with the shorter numbers kind of setting the tone in-between the longer ones, but it's also a fairly engrossing record for those of us who grew up on Sebadoh and their ilk.
Jason Albertini seems to be taking cues from Neil Young here ("Echo Location"), but the entirety of This Devastating Map seems more concise than that comparison might lead you to believe. It's a rare skill to make stuff that sounds this laid-back, but which remains focused and engaging. I think the key is that the compositions here are relatively short, with Albertini's exploratory detours being ornamental ones, and ones which do not derail the haphazard but focused march of the indie-rock on offer from this outfit.
This Devastating Map is out on Friday via Joyful Noise Recordings.
More details on Helvetia via the band's Facebook page.
[Photo: Joyful Noise Recordings]