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Sep 02, 2011 Web Exclusive By J. Pace

How Hella can have the energy to keep cranking out their spastic, ludicrous-composition noise rock, let alone the brainpower required for memorizing all the parts, is anyone’s guess. But sure enough, the duo—just the original two-piece for this one—is at it again.

Perhaps they got some rest. A four-year hiatus preceded Tripper, after 2007’s There’s No 666 In Outer Space (which saw the band expand to a five-piece), and it’s as shit-tight and explosive as anything else they’ve given us, a violent assault of 32nd notes, fist-pumping tension, and musical athleticism.

Despite the substantial tempos and insubstantial attention span, they do always seem to find the grooves in there. Guitarist Spencer Seim ensures some melodicism pokes out between all the twists and turns, like the speedy leads serving as a chorus or climax on “Headless,” the tooth-gnashing metal tropes dotting “Self Checkout,” or the brain-tickling doubled guitar opening “Yubacore.”

The opening of “On The Record” sounds like one of those 78-speed tracks by Neu!, which kinda says it all: these two operate at some kind of crazed hummingbird frequency, one classic rockers could only sniff out on the wrong speed. As always, it’s pretty fun to try and stay on board awhile. (www.hellaband.com)

Author rating: 6/10