HELTA SKELTA - S/T LP

$25.00

HELTA SKELTA - S/T LP

$25.00

If you want to arrange pickup in Perth just send through a message via the link above

This repress is basically a repro of the original press with a few slight changes. No remastering (why mess with greatness?). Comes with "Day Bill" style poster and "eggshell" style sticker.

Part of the original concept of Bad habit records was to delve into the past of Australian underground music and dig out important releases and reissue them with a real eye to keeping the atmosphere of the original time and circumstances. Records that every should have in their collection. High water marks of Australian punk.

The first Helta Skelta Lp was self released and sold out quickly. We always get asked at the shop if we have it. Whenever we get a 2nd hand copy the next person to come in buys it straight away. It's became a mythical record.

Everything about this record is perfect. The cryptic cover is aesthetically pleasing, but also has the aesthetics of 1 thousand bugs crawling all over your skin. Nick Blinko but he only ever watched kids cartoons. The music is this 60's garage inspired punk but played with the aggression of hardcore. The guitars are nearly surf rock at times, minimal distortion. The vocals are beamed in directly from the dimension of angry father yelling at his crying family for not turning off the lights or putting the water back in the fridge. Hes taking out his frustrations and confusion of a cruel and uncaring world by being cruel and uncaring towards you, the listener.

A perfect punk album that's disorienting and absurd in a perfect way.

Here's some reviews from when it originally came out.

Sorry State Records: Debut LP from this killer Australian band that perfectly toes the line between hardcore and garage rock. The vocals are pure hardcore a la Negative Approach or Poison Idea, but the music is a lot catchier... the guitar has just minimal distortion, and the riffs are bouncy and catchy. I can't really think of another band doing this style in the same way... the closest thing might be Texas's Wiccans, but these songs are catchier and even more punk. Speaking of Texas bands, this also reminds me a little of the Video LP, but much more hardcore-oriented and with a fuzzy and nasty HC-style recording. This is an absolutely killer LP, and since it's self-released in Australia and very limited I imagine these won't be easy to come by.

Mess and Noise: I'm just going to come out and say it. These Perth guys are one of the best punk bands going around at the moment. They mix just the right amount of gnarly hardcore and punk rock with an emphasis on “rock”. Their self-titled LP comes out fast and frantic and with plenty of gruffness on the opening 'Son of Man'. They cover hometown heroes The Victims ('Disco Junkies'), but make it their own with some slowed down and weirded-out parts. The closing 'I Am Shiva, God of Death' is gold! I imagine they would kill it live. Best punk band Australia has produced in ages.

Sydney Morning Gazette- I first heard this album in a record shop in Sydney(Hello Repressed Records). Straight away i was like what the fuck is this. Went to the counter and bought the copy right off the turntable. What a monster record. It sounded like an amalgamation of what was going on in underground punk in Australia at the time, but assembled in a way that totally was greater then all its parts. It had amazing songwriting, but it didnt feel calculated or effortless or confident. It keeps that tension and franticness of idiot punks constructing something that probably no one will ever care about. Little did they know, they had created one of the greatest Australian punk records of all time.