The Helgeson Story

The album cover of their only surviving EP:
No Mail Days Are Sad Days

 

The Helgeson Story were an indie rock band vaguely resembling the sound of Radiohead (as in a dreamy and incorporating influences from disco, jazz, r&b, electronic and new wave whilst maintaining a thicker sound) from Louisville, Kentucky who were around at some point in the late 90s. 

Named after a Norwegian man from the early 1900s who went exploring a cave that was the site of many a disappearance, apparently they were quite notable around town, despite being near impossible to track down any releases now. 

The lead singer died in some kind of a horrible antidepressent related incident in 2003, as documented here. The My Morning Jacket song 'Dondante' was written about him.

The band consisted of:

Aaron Todovich - vocals/guitar/keyboards
John Erler - guitar
Jeremy Johnson - bass/vocals/keyboards
Andrew Osbourne - drums
Mike Szabo - Guitar

Discography:

1998:

A Journey Into the World of Making Babies (7")

 

1999:

No Mail Days Are Sad Days (EP)

Rating:

Cryptic indie rock. I can't make too much sense out of it. It sounds alright though, i'm not personally a fan of jazzy inflections, but if you like them they're here. The overall sound of this is bizzarely jovial, at least considering the lead singers general conditions i'd assume a much darker sound (perhaps the lyrics are, but i don't have the mind for poetics). 

verdict - for people who've listened to too much radiohead and need to get out of the slump, but don't want to switch to listening to a different style of music

Stories Split w/Second Story Man (EP)

 

n/a:

Your Last Day (EP)

 

All releases other than No Mail Days Are Sad Days are considered lost media. You can hear Second Story Man's side of the Stories split (Spin the Arrow & Night Traffic) here

 

Members of the band would later go on to form the bands:

The Summer Life, Month of Sundays, Your Black Star and The Rainbow Girls