w/Cobra High, Anna Oxygen Sat Aug 16, Graceland, 10 pm, $8.
While it's true that there is nothing new under the sun, that doesn't mean you can't find anything that sounds new. When a band stops an audience dead in its tracks, as Portland's Helio Sequence did recently at Graceland, that's something of which to take particular notice. These kinds of moments don't happen nearly as often as they could.
Broad. That's the word Helio Sequence forces to mind. Broad as in broad creativity. Broad as in broad influences. Broad as in expansive sound, especially when you take into consideration that the band is only a two-piece. "I would say it's cohesive, but it's definitely broad for sure," says guitarist/vocalist Brandon Summers. "As a band we've been kind of conscious never to fall into having a string of songs that all sound the same, but we'll touch on little sounds that we kind of know are little patterns, but we try to do a lot of different things, especially as of late, where we've been adding instruments like harmonicas and acoustic guitar. I'm really excited about the new album because there are a lot of different things on there."
Summers is talking about their debut for Sub Pop, due out in March. He and drummer/keyboardist Benjamin Weikel (also of Modest Mouse) gained an appreciative audience after their second full-length, Young Effectuals (Cavity Search), showcased their dense sound, one that comes across as melodic noise rock that blends shoegazer with the ever- more-acceptable prog. While that may read like an insane combination, it's nothing short of breathtaking--as well as challenging, as your mind spins from element to element. To see it performed live is a resuscitating experience in a time when bands have to work extra hard to produce that effect. And that it can be done by two guys who have an EP and, soon, three full-lengths behind them gives bigger bands no excuse for not aspiring to the same.
