NDN Records proudly presents:
Artist: Helen Zachariah
Title: Save The Plants
Cat. No.: NDN 20
Format: 7" EP
Tracks: 1) Save The Plants, 2) She's Head, 3) Supersonic Survivor, 4) The Addict (Demo)
Other: Green vinyl, 1st 100 copies come with unique silkscreened cloth artwork
This is punk. This is folk. This is fucking brilliant!
"Save The Plants"/"Supersonic Survivor" (Double A-side) is the criminally
overdue debut of singer and songwriter Helen Zachariah.
Born and bred just the wrong side of the tracks in Swansea, Wales' second city, Helen has long
been an artist renowned locally for her highly original and challenging songwriting. She has
also had her paintings exhibited at various locations incl. art galleries in London. It is worth
noting that the first 100 copies of this single come with a piece of cloth art, silk-screened
from one of Helen's original paintings.
In the early 80's, Helen's proto-grrrrrl combo "The Greedy Girls" terrified punk gentlefolk and
so impressed the then-nobody Liam Gallagher that he pretended for months to be a Mute rep before
blowing his cover and absconding with a beloved demo, the fate to which may be explained by
certain dubious samples.
Passionate, commited and singular in voice and word, Helen is an enormous talent whose
confinement thus far to Swansea is inexplicable, but now poised to end with the release of this
extraordinary single, produced blind along principles of Zen archery, first take bravado and
sheer belligerence by Jeremy Gluck (ex-Barracudas).
Recorded for next to nothing, in no time at the home studio of "Zone" founder Andrew Cadsmore,
and with negligible preparation, the tracks on "Save The Plants" merges 2 of Helen's awesome
set standards ("Supersonic Survivor" & "She's Head") with the newer "Save The Plants", composed
and recorded to a tight schedule dictated by her guardian angels. Another class standard,
"The Addict" (acoustic demo version), rounds off the proceedings.
These 4 songs all comprise a challenge to mediocrity and compromise, and stand as an astringent
to the current vogue for cutesy folk chicks, with Helen's vocal attack and frankly primitive
guitar style providing a wake-up call to a world junk food and Playstation sick. Despite its
implicit spirit power, Helen's music is not the stuff of weekend warrior flakedom, as e.g.
"She's Head" will prove.
Meanwhile, at the time of writing, Helen Zachariah is busy putting the finishing touches on her
debut digital long play platter, "Blow Them Away Into Nothingness", scheduled for release on NDN
Records in the fall of 2000.
Reviews of Helen Zachariah's "Save The Plants" 7" EP (NDN 20):
"I'm confused. Psychedelic messages creeping through my mind, and guitars singing about
planets and plants and even the vinyl is green. Is it on the wrong speed? No... it's just me.
It's a strange spoken word distorted chant in space of sorts, under the rule of songwriter Helen
Zachariah, and she has a little help from... it's Jeremy Gluck again, and that's all I need to
know to know I should keep listening. It's almost experimental noise fuzz, but with creepy and
cool Marc Bolan twisted lyrical secrets driving through the grooves. The flip side is still hit
with the waves of distorted fuzz guitar, a sonic drone, but the vocals are more distinct, and a
little more cohesive, though just as hypnotic." (INK 19, Fall 2000)
"This is interesting. Helen Zachariah's debut is a cross between the ethereal and the trash
zone. Utilizing a variety of guitar and bass sounds, she manages to create an artsy feel that
filters everything from shoe gazing pop to anarcho punk to folk. Jarring, enchanting and stand
on its own in a weird way. In an increasingly homogenized world musically, this seven inch takes
us on a strange journey where the previous rules don't mean much. This is cool."(The Trouble With
Normal #48, 2000)
"NDN 20 is a four track EP by Helen Zachariah featuring minimal dubby music with near spoken
words. Fragile and spaced out but featuring treated guitars where necessary, this is strange
unnerving stuff." (Here Be Monsters #21, September 2000)
"Helen is an artistic songwriter (and a painter) from Wales. The opening track is a meandering
and repetitive pop tune. That's followed by a song that drags on with noisy guitar work and
mostly-spoken vocals. The B side is not much different than the A side, offering hyper-artsy,
noisy, pop with vocals that are probably the best part." (Impact Press, October/November 2000)
"Folky to alternative pop rock from this Wales singer who's sound have a Berlin, S. Vega,
Toyah Wilcox, 22 Brides feel with a buzz added in." (Toxic Flyer #31, 2000)
Click here to listen to "Save The Plants" off "Save The Plants"
For further info, interview requests, etc., contact Henrik at NDN Records.
NDN RECORDS
P.O. BOX 131471
THE WOODLANDS, TX 77393-1471
USA
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© NDN 2000