Party of Helicopters

Given all eternity, record label suits could never conjure up what bong hits and Blue Ribbon beer inspired in a Midwestern basement. There has got to be a community of hard-rock dinosaurs spinning in their graves at the sheer audacity of Party of Helicopters in its rendering of a strange, mostly palatable hybrid-sound of Boston and My Bloody Valentine. Joe Dennis’ lazy-hazy vocals traverse a metallic jet stream of hard-rock cues. Metal riffing and interspersed leads rise and disappear at unpredictable turns, painting narratives that offer dancing directives, family moustache history and comments on punk’s social politics. The album’s richest moment comes courtesy of their Hüsker Dü-driven “Never Ending Cycle” with its beautiful lyric to youth and wasted summers: “… How ’bout we hypnotize ourselves this weekend/ We’ll get some boxes of wine and drink until we think that we don’t know anything…” Oblivion never tasted sweeter.