Helvetia is an American independent and experimental alternative music group from

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

. The name

Helvetia Helvetia () is the female national personification of Switzerland, officially ''Confoederatio Helvetica,'' the Swiss Confederation. The allegory is typically pictured in a flowing gown, with a spear and a shield emblazoned with the Swiss fl ...

is the female personification of Switzerland, the childhood home of Jason Albertini.

Musical career

Jason Albertini started Helvetia after the dissolution of the band Duster (in which he played drums). Helvetia's first record, ''The Clever North Wind'', was released in 2006 on The Static Cult Label and distributed by Up Records. Their first national exposure was achieved by touring with Built To Spill. Helvetia is produced/performed by Jason Albertini and sustained by a rotating live line-up, which has included C. Dove Amber, Jim Roth, Scott Plouf, Zeke Howard, and Samantha Stidham. Their third release, ''Headless Machine of the Heart'' was released in 2008. The record was recorded entirely on a 4-track tape machine. Helvetia continues to release music through The Static Cult Label (which is helmed by Duster-mate Clay Parton). In 2012 Helvetia released the album ''Nothing in Rambling'' on

Joyful Noise Recordings Joyful Noise Recordings is an independent record label from Indianapolis, Indiana. The label was founded in 2003 in Bloomington, Indiana by Karl Hofstetter, who also played drums on many of the label's first releases. Joyful Noise maintains an a ...

. Helvetia released ''Dromomania'' on Joyful Noise Recordings on October 2, 2015.

Discography

Studio albums

* ''The Clever North Wind'' (2006), The Static Cult Label, distributed by

Up Records Up Records was a Seattle based independent record label founded in 1994 by Chris Takino and Rich Jensen. Some of the label's best known artists were 764-Hero, Built to Spill, Modest Mouse, Quasi and Tad. Chris Takino died of leukemia in 200 ...

* ''The Acrobats'' (2008), The Static Cult Label * ''Headless Machine of the Heart'' (2008), The Static Cult Label * ''Helvetia's Junk Shop'' (2009), The Static Cult Label * ''Gladness (2001-2006)'' (2010), The Static Cult Label * ''On The Lam'' (2011), The Static Cult Label * ''Nothing in Rambling'' (2012),

* ''Dromomania'' (2015), Joyful Noise Recordings * ''A Dot Running for the Dust'' (2015), Joyful Noise Recordings * ''Fantastic Life'' (2020), self-released * ''This Devastating Map'' (2020), Joyful Noise Recordings * ''Essential Aliens'' (2021), Joyful Noise Recordings * ''Presents Sudden Hex'' (2021), Joyful Noise Recordings * ''Ugly Truth'' (2022), self-released * ''Dishes are never done but good luck'' (2022), self-released * ''28 Songs & $3 Dollar Tears'' (2022), self-released * ''Gladness II 2001-2006'' (2022), self-released * ''Star Gazer Trials'' (2022), self-released * ''get lost & other dimensions'' (2022), self-released * ''You shot past the moon scapegoat'' (2023), self-released

Compilation albums

* ''Camp Century Sessions'' (2012), self released * ''The Original Gladness Tape'' (2022), self-released

EPs

* ''Nothing but Ringo'' (2015), self-released * ''Sun Chasers'' (2020), Rainbo Records

Singles

* ''Tears of Rage'' (2010), The Static Cult Label * ''Sing Songs by the Amazing Thinking Fellers Union 282'' (with Doug Martsch) (2012), Joyful Noise Recordings * ''Spooky Action At The Sufferbus'' (with Built to Spill) (2013), Joyful Noise Recordings * ''Crumbs Like Saucers/The Road Crew'' (2015), Joyful Noise Recordings * ''A Dot Running For The Dust'' (2015), Joyful Noise Recordings * ''

Christmas Time Is Here "Christmas Time Is Here" is a popular Christmas standard written by Vince Guaraldi and Lee Mendelson for the 1965 television special ''A Charlie Brown Christmas'', one of the first animated Christmas specials produced for network television in t ...

'' (with

Pall Jenkins Pall Jenkins is an American vocalist, guitarist and music producer. He is the front man for the bands Three Mile Pilot and The Black Heart Procession, as well as his collaborations with Vampire Rodents and Ugly Casanova. Biography Pall Je ...

) (2016), Joyful Noise Recordings * ''Helvetia Xmas'' (2020), Joyful Noise Recordings * ''Questionable Youth'' (2022), self-released

References

Stereogum Interview

Rapid Transit Radio review

Indie Rock Review of Helvetia's Junk Shop
Indie rock musical groups from Washington (state) Musical groups from Seattle Joyful Noise Recordings artists {{US-indie-rock-band-stub