Going to the Theatre

Having made a beautifully elegant splash with their self-titled debut, the brothers Helm keep things going with their second Audra album, Going to the Theatre. Helped here and there by second guitarist Robert Stacy but otherwise handling everything themselves, Bret and Bart — still looking devilishly goth/glam, if the photos are any indication — again create a series of songs combining knowing artiness, glowering but catchy guitar riffs, and just enough humor. If anything were going to be a soundtrack to a movie about denizens of the darkwave scene in the early 21st century, this would probably have to be it. "Fearless 'Peaches'" alone — an acoustic-led portrait of a music-loving drag queen — could make the basis for a better film than most. Bret's singing is again an important and mighty fine element to why it all works, dark and low without sounding overtly doom-laden, yet able to readily convey emotional intensity when needed. "In a Dark Room..." is a major highlight, a birthday portrait laden with an ever increasing power in the music which Bret readily matches, building to a fiery (and at the same time just restrained enough) conclusion. Nods to everything from brutal industrial beats ("Cabaret Fortune Teller") to psychedelic drone ("All Ghosts Spend Their Time Alone") help make Going to the Theatre a varied, accomplished listen. Stacy's contributions are quite effective, his spiralling concluding part on "There Are No Snakes in Heaven" and driving work on "A Walk in the Woods" particularly noteworthy. The title track is a delight, at once an amusing and surprisingly evocative snapshot of seeing movies and avoiding the likes of "Henry's mom...p in the booth watching over us." The understated blend of acoustic guitar lead and wheezing keyboards (the latter courtesy of Bart, who wrote the lyrics) with Bret's ghost-of-Bowie-and-Murphy delivery show the two to once again be masters of their field.