By: David Schultz

At this year’s South By Southwest Festival, the proliferation of drums and guitar combos was one of the event’s more noticeable trends. Everywhere you turned, there were duos offering different interpretations of what can be done with only two instruments. I only got a small sampling of The Helio Sequence down in Austin but that brief taste whetted the appetite for more. Guitarist Brandon Summers and drummer Benjamin Weikel opt against distorted guitars and fuzzy blues riffs. Rather, they seem like they’re cut from the mold of the moody, well-pressed, nicely-coiffed bands from the Eighties.

Along with Band Of Horses, The Helio Sequence are helping redefine the music of the Pacific Northwest. Gone are the days of flannel and self-pity and in are T-shirts and . . . well, there’s still a bit of pathos in the air. Beaverton, Oregon’s hottest sensation came to the other coast this past week, headlining one of New York City’s signature venues, the Bowery Ballroom.

On stage, The Helios are a bit looser and more in-your-face than their latest album Keep Your Eyes Ahead would lead you to believe. Lurching back and forth on his stool, Weikel puts all his momentum into every drum stroke. As they incorporate some backing music, Weikel makes you double check whether every beat is actually coming from him. (As far as I could tell: yes, Oh my, yes). Summers bounds gracefully around the stage and on songs like “The Captive Mind” and “Can’t Say No,” he’s as enthralling as any other indie-rock frontman. Purists may not be too happy with their use of backing loops but they can’t grumble too loudly. Their subtle use of the taped music mainly provides atmosphere; it’s hardly noticeable amidst Summers slick guitar riffs and Weikel’s monstrous bashing of the drums.

Their encore was a truly wondrous affair. With Weikel taking a seat in the shadows behind his drum kit, Summers played a marvelously gorgeous rendition of “Broken Afternoon.” After an hour’s worth of smoothly textured modern rock, Summers’ calm, literate echoed Bob Dylan at his warmest and least cryptic. To follow it up, Wiekel tore into one of classic rock’s most recognizable psychedelic drumbeats and he and Summers, who retrieved his electric guitar, closed the night with a spectacular and mesmerizing version of The Beatles’ “Tomorrow Never Knows.”

Using the minimalist structure of two instruments, Summers and Weikel ran the gamut of their catalog moving from smooth Eighties era melodies that ache for a John Hughes movie through some near bluesy tunes with Summers playing a mean harmonica. In watching any guitar and drums combo, it’s near impossible to keep The White Stripes from creeping into your mind; Meg and Jack being the two most well-known practitioners of the craft. At least for now. Once the world catches up with The Helio Sequence (as well as with another little duo out of Akron, Ohio), people’s conceptions will start to change.

Labels: The Helio Sequence