Help Yourself

Presentación del Álbum

There's no question that Help Yourself's debut album was a product of its times -- something about the whole easygoing boogie vibe and gentle psych-inspired trippiness, the way of singing, the production, and more just screams early-'70s non-metal and non-glam rock & roll. Look at it one way and Help Yourself was just a cut above incipient bar band culture but, heard with fresh ears years after its release, it strikes a great balance between entertaining the crowd and exploration. Call the band a more down-to-earth Pink Floyd or Hawkwind set somewhere in the English countryside without specifically owing anything to either band. Morley, who takes vocal lead throughout, shows a fine voice similar to Neil Young's, with just that hint of twang while not sounding quite so cracked and strained. At some points the resemblance is overwhelming -- check out the chorus of the wistful "Old Man" (in fact not a cover of Young's own standard, though that would have been perfectly appropriate). As a unit, the four-piece, which finished up the album in a week's time, comes across as seasoned without being overly pro or polished -- the curse of "tasty licks" is generally avoided in favor of relaxed understatement, solos smoothly fitting into the songs rather than dominating them. The more immediately singalong numbers, like "I Must See Jesus for Myself" and the lovely "Paper Leaves," as perfect a late summer evening ramble and sigh as one could ask for, still sneak up on a listener, entrancing without trying too hard to do so. There are some darker numbers worthy of note -- "To Katherine They Fall" is the most space rock of the bunch, keeping the right head-nodding vibes while not tripping out completely, while "Deborah" is a flat-out lovely piano ballad, Morley's wounded voice the perfect accompaniment.

© Ned Raggett /TiVo