Digging For Fire Vol. 52: Party of Helicopters – Mt. Forever
Ohio’s Party of Helicopters were one of the more interesting Post-Hardcore bands to come to up earlier this decade. The band was epitomized by their Shoegazer inspired melodic sweeps over very prominent guitar licks that would range from Mathcore, Prog and even Stoner rock. They were quite eclectic, ambitious and really stood out from the tide of other Post-Hardcore bands. I liken them to a mix of My Bloody Valentine, Unwound & Queens of the Stone Age.
Formed by guitarist Jamie Stillman (perhaps best known as the drummer for cult fave Harriet the Spy/New Terror Class) in the mid 90s, Party of Helicopters released a handful of EPs, 7″ and debut LP Abracadaver before releasing this in 2000 (after Harriet the Spy’s breakup).
Unfortunately I don’t think Party of Helicopters really got the attention or credit they deserved and called it quits in 2004 after releasing 4 albums with members going on to play in a variety of other bands. They do however reform sporadically for the occasional show in Ohio it seems.
- My Pal the Crook
July 26th, 2009 at 2:47 pm
Abracadaver is their first lp, this is their 2nd.
July 26th, 2009 at 2:55 pm
You’re right! I never realized that Abracadaver came out on vinyl long before the CD in 2001. I always thought it was the follow-up but this actually makes a whole lot more sense now given Abracadaver’s sound and production.
Fixed.
July 27th, 2009 at 2:32 am
What ever happened to awesomely awful albums? I liked those. Boo-urns!
July 27th, 2009 at 4:55 am
yeah they switched it up for mt. forever but went back to a more abracadaver-ish sound for the “space and how sweet it was” ep. very versatile band, glad i saw them before they called it quits.
July 27th, 2009 at 9:38 am
This is such a good album. When it first came out I listened to it over and over for about 4 months straight.
I actually think “Please Believe It” is their best album mostly because I love the ridiculous subject matter of a lot of the songs. A song about his dog that’s an alien and sent from space to watch his every move?!? A song about his brother’s mustache (before mustaches became a popular ironic trend)?!?
If you haven’t heard it, I suggest hunting down a copy of “The Man I Fell in Love With” self-titled ep. It’s much spacier and gentler side project of POH.