What kind of band is Helmet? In a sense, that depends on who's listening.
"I think everyone pretty much limits the group based on their first impression," says Page Hamilton, the band's principal songwriter, guitarist and singer. "If their first impression was the song 'In the Meantime,' then we're a heavy metal band. If their first impression was 'Biscuits for Smut,' then we're an alternative band. And if it was 'Unsung,' which for most people it was, then we're Black Sabbath or something."
Hamilton isn't especially happy with that situation, but then again, he's not too crazy about categories to begin with. That's one reason "Betty," the band's latest album, is so exciting. Although Helmet's music has elements in common with the punk and thrash scenes, the band refuses to play by a single set of rules.
As Hamilton puts it, "We're certainly not a jazz band, and we're not a funk band, and we're not a blues band, although those elements are certainly in specific songs in this album. Everyone in the band has different musical influences and that, in some way, adds to the sound."
No wonder there's such depth and variety to the songs on "Betty." "I Know" uses bright, shimmering guitar chords to offset the dense, bluesy churn of its central riff, while "Milquetoast" leavens its dark pulse with the kind of harmonies normally found in fusion jazz. "Sam Hell" finds Hamilton toying with bottleneck blues, while "Beautiful Love" goes from round-toned jazz guitar to ear-piercing skronk in the blink of an eye.
Despite the album's wide-ranging approach, Hamilton doesn't think there's anything especially revolutionary about his songwriting. "They're just pop songs as far as I'm concerned," he says, over the phone from a tour stop in Detroit. "There are some interesting forms; I've tried to experiment with stuff in that way, without it sounding forced."
Besides, Hamilton has enough confidence in his strengths as a composer that he's sure the music would be recognizable regardless of its stylistic bent.
"I mean, I can recognize Charlie Parker from a mile away, and the same with Mozart," he says. "You could say, 'Oh, it all sounds the same.' But that's because it's one person writing music, and that's the way that person's music sounds. I consider that a strength, as opposed to a weakness.
"People that have no musical personality and are overly eclectic end up sort of mimicking music that has already been done. That doesn't really intrigue me. That's what separates, for me, interesting music from non- interesting music. As far as a lot of music that's happening now, there's just an overwhelming desire to be rock stars. That's all these people are in music for, and a lot of the music sounds like it to me."
Helmet doesn't try to duplicate the musical range of "Betty" onstage.
"We haven't even tried to do 'Sam Hell,' " he says. "It was kind of my thing; it wasn't a Helmet thing. I thought it added to the album, but I'm not really comfortable with me coming out and doing solo blues things. We're definitely a band live, and we're still the same -- for lack of a better word -- punk rock band that we started out as . . . There's not much of a show, there's just us playing our songs.
"An album is one thing, and a live performance is another thing. A live performance has to flow in a certain way. The energy and the sweat live is more important -- not necessarily jumping around, but being committed to playing the music."
In the studio, however, anything goes, so long as it pleases the players.
"If you're making an album, you're basically making an album that you like," Hamilton says. "You're making an album for yourself, essentially. You hope that people like it, obviously; everybody does. But ultimately, that is secondary to the enjoyment of making an album for the band."
Helmet
When: Wed. Feb. 8, 9 p.m.
Where: Hammerjacks
Tickets: $14
Call: (410) 659-7625 for information, (410) 481-6327 for tickets
Bits of "Betty"
To hear excerpts from Helmet's album "Betty," call Sundial, The Sun's telephone information service, at (410) 783-1800. In Anne Arundel County, call 268-7736; in Harford County, 836-5028; in Carroll County, 848-0338. Using a touch-tone phone, punch in the four-digit code 6144 after you hear the greeting.