Helvetia's Junk Shop is the fourth record by Seattle based band Helvetia and the follow up to last years acclaimed The Acrobats and Headless Machine Of The Heart. Written and recorded by Jason Albertini, the only constant member of the band, the new album refines and expands on this unique musical vision which has been slowly gathering steam in the indie rock world over its last three releases. You may remember Albertini as the long time member of UP records artists Duster and Mike Johnson’s Evil Doers. He has also contributed to such acts as Xiu Xiu and has toured extensively with indie rock heroes Built To Spill. He has performed live w/ other bands like The Fruit Bats, The Vells, and Ghost Stories.
Jason Albertini was born and raised in Basel Switzerland until the age of 12 after which he moved to San Jose CA with his mother and sister. Albertini came up with the band name as a sort of ode to his childhood home. Helvetia is the female personification of Switzerland.
Helvetia first bore fruit in 2006 with its debut The Clever North Wind, which was released on Duster mate Clay Parton's The Static Cult Label and distributed by Up Records. The album was recorded and produced over the course of two years by Albertini, after relocating to Seattle, WA. During this time he decided to make Helvetia a functional live band by recruiting ally Dove Amber (with whom he had played in Duster) to play drums. They began to play shows in and around Seattle in support of The Clever North Wind, and closed out 2006 with an opening slot on the Built To Spill tour. During this time Albertini wrote and demoed the bulk of what was to become The Acrobats. Invigorated and rehearsed from touring it was decided to re-record these tunes with Jim Roth (Built To Spill) at his home studio in Seattle WA. Jason at this point became apart of the Built To Spill touring camp, as a monitor engineer. Due to this heavy touring schedule, The Acrobats was not completed until early 2008. It too was released on The Static Cult Label.
Helvetia opened another tour for Built To Spill that fall along w/ a newly reunited Meat Puppets but this time without Amber, who was busy working with Love As Laugher and Arthur & Yu. Instead Scott Plouf (Spinanes, Built To Spill ) played drums and Jim Roth handled bass duties. After the run of shows, Albertini found himself back as a one-man-band again and in some spare time recorded Headless Machine Of The Heart on a cassette 4-track in his garage and released later that year.
Now Helvetia is back with this new batch of 13 songs, recorded and produced in Albertini’s home studio in Seattle WA. Helvetia's Junk Shop is this projects most focused record to date, with honed rhythm sections and psychedelic guitars that leap from muted single string melodies to freak out distorted wailing. Ideas come and go, sometimes cut up, magnified and expanded, willing meaning out of repetition. Crackling organs glue together the music with soothing droning swells accompanied by Albertini's lamenting, otherworldly vocal styling’s, but at it's core it's just guitar and drums. Helvetia rocks subdued as if in a dream state after too many days awake, juggling tantalizing melodies that are familiar and strange at the same time.
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