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Peluché,
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The Windmill, Brixton
Good Friday, 14th April 2017
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Demo Review

The Hellset Orchestra
Greetings from the Great Humongous

Article written by Matt H - Jul 4, 2005

A bit of verve � that�s exactly what we want to hear.* The Hellset Orchestra have verve by the coffin-load. And a break from guitars is a fine thing too. Filling in instead with violins, a cello and sax, they sound like nothing so much as some bizarre Midlands take on a New Orleans funerary band fronted by a mad professor.

This debut mini-LP (get it from their site) is full of intriguing titles and intriguing sounds to match:��Come into my Lab� he said� sounds like Sparks performing Phantom of the Opera**;�It Takes Twice as Long (When You�re Half as Big)� adds a touch of bug-eyed Grand Guignol to a grungey swaggering swing; and �I�m Trying to Make a Monstrous Bird� is a refugee from a never-realised stage musical. Add to this a bit of what is, for want a better description, ska-goth, a few more doom-laden organs and straightjacket-straining vocals and you have something as accomplished as it is engagingly foolish.

What with the Hellsets and Misty�s Big Adventure, the Midlands is becoming a hotbed of inspired eccentricity. May their bitterns boom long beyond the mating season.

*Note the non-capital V - �a bit of Verve� is exactly what we don�t want to hear.

**Note on the importance of good diction � the chorus sounds more like �Come into my lavvy, sir�

Links:
http://www.thehellsetorchestra.co.uk/