First Look: Help – ‘2053’

Help Hometown: Portland, Oregon Album: 2053, out March 22 via Nadine Records The beauty of post-punk is you never really know what you’re going to get (sort of like a box of chocolates…)—you could get mathy art punk, synth-y ‘80s nostalgia, danceable indie flair, or a rush of noise that’s almost noisy hardcore. Help take the latter approach with their riveting debut, churning out some of the most caustic, energetic post-punk in the game. Help sound like a band serenading the end of the republic, riotously fueling the uprising against the rich and powerful. It’s not angry music for the sake of anger, but listening to 2053 feels like a release value getting turned to the left (lefty loose-y, righty tight-y), and that’s very much what the band aimed to do, as drummer Bim Ditson explains...