Concert preview: Unnatural Helpers

Kelly O

Unnatural Helpers

Details

Unnatural Helpers perform on Monday, May 17, at Hemlock Tavern. 6:30 p.m., $5; 923-0923 or www.hemlocktavern.com.

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More About

• Dean Whitmore
• Kurt Bloch
• Relationships

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There's an instant charm to Unnatural Helpers' one- and two-minute songs. Cramming 15 of them onto the Seattle group's latest release, the 25-minute Cracked Love & Other Drugs, drummer and frontman Dean Whitmore spouts funny, juvenile lyrics over the band's distorted rock. In a nifty reversal, "Sunshine/Pretty Girls" is actually a cataloguing of things he doesn't care about, while "She Was Your Girlfriend" isn't very remorseful about an extrarelationship tryst. Formerly of the Intelligence and a few other bands, Whitmore has armed himself with a bracing lineup, and an ideal producer in the Fastbacks' Kurt Bloch. From there, the songs practically write themselves.