Born Annoying

A bunch of hard-to-find B sides and out-of-print singles are collected here in one nice, little package. This is the Helmet I prefer--the one less interested in hammering the listener with gargantuan riffs than in the squall a guitar is capable of making within the confines of a bludgeoning rock song. The cover of the Melvins' "Oven" (available originally on a Sub Pop Singles Club comp) is certainly a highlight, as are the four songs from their first demo, two of which became the rare "Born Annoying" 7." Kudos to Am Rep for making all this stuff available on one CD, but where the hell's "Impressionable," the best Helmet song ever? --Adem Tepedelen