LET'S HET

Offering one of the most bizarre musical statements of the 80s if not of all time, the short-lived London underground sensation HET emerged from the equally bizarre a cappella freakery of the briefly existing Furious Pig which itself emerged from the Devon region of Southwestern England. Together with future didgeridoo superstar Stephen Kent and Martin Kent, the duo of Cass Davies and Dominic Weeks unleashed the most bold and daring post-punk ethos set to an unusual a cappella setting. While the barber shop quartet from planet bizarro only released a mere three -track EP in 1981 titled "I Don't Like Your Face," Davies and Weeks took the whole Furious Pig concept to the next level by forming the equally bizarre HET which basically took the Furious Pig concept into the world of unorthodox instrumentation.

Joined by none other than Henry Cow's Tim Hodgkinson who sat in the engineering seat as well as having contributed some abnormal saxophone parts, HET featured five extra vocalists including the Belgian experimentalist Catherine Jauniaux as well as a gong, handclaps and the Indonesian gamelan. Together this unique ensemble released its one and only album LET'S HET amongst the more mainstream world of new wave, heavy metal and other popular music forms of the era. Existing utterly in its own unique universe, HET was basically the next level of the a cappella experimentation of Furious Pig only placed in the world of avant-prog and Indonesian traditional music called Gamelan gong kebyar which is 20th century style that emerged in Bali and designed for dance and theater performances.

LET'S HET avoided comparisons to any other act whether contemporary or from the past however the music on display draws strong parallels to the world of The Residents especially on albums such as "Eskimo" and other similarly minded avant-garde releases. Likewise the gamelan performances evoke the microtonal classical world of Harry Partch and the more rock oriented segments to the knotty world of avant-prog's chamber rock mystique club from bands such as Art Zoyd and Univers Zero. With Furious Pig starting out as a post-punk band before dropping the instrumentation, HET also sounded like it was totally aware of the strange progressive post-punk world of This Heat and at moments also displays a tenuous connection to that band's bizarre experimental approach especially from the now classic "Deceit" album.

This album consists of seven tracks and clocks in at just over 46 minutes and in the process delivers the most bizarre mix of choral experiments, throbbing bass grooves, jazzy piano runs, Indonesian traditional sounds and off-the-wall soundscapes that evoke The Residents' most adventurous and unclassifiable moments. The music is extremely energetic and evokes the spirit of the world of post-punk only set to a completely alienating delivery system that features extremely adventurous time signature workouts, atonality and pretty much eschewing all existing conventionalities. Everything on board defies logic. Rhythmic drives morph without warning yet often cruise on for lengthy cyclical loops. Vocal accompaniments drift in and out of sync with the instrumentation. Focus upon the various elements shifts from track to track and the knotty procession of avant-prog complexities weaves an unusual tapestry of influences that sound completely detached from the entire history of music. It's like the album was created in a vacuum.

Roughly half vocals and half instrumentation, the vocals are completely wordless and simply provide a shape-shifting excursion into a bizarre world that relies on the basic rhythmic flow as its stabling force. In many ways HET delivered an album that could easily fit into the world New York's no wave scene only taken to an arena where disparate musical forces were for a brief moment allowed to play like a dinosaur set loose in a safari park. The final track "Ha Stop" also finds traditional Indonesian monkey chants into the mix. Although uncredited it sounds like there are other instruments added here and there like string slides of a cello perhaps? Also there are moments where a creepy darkened atmospheric backdrop will appear but it's unclear if this is vocally performed or simply a matter of production.

Although heard by few, anyone who finds this release into their aural reality will immediately be struck by how utterly unique it is. Fortified by a hefty vocal choir that is as skillful in weaving complex adventurous polyrhythms and contrapuntal elements as the most proficient of prog bands, the musical accompaniments are equally as impressive with each track taking you on a completely different journey into the unknown. The album has been praised as a true gem of the London underground and equally on par with any of the other outsider weirdo highlights of the last several decades. Whatever the case, HET delivered one of the most freakishly odd anomalies of the entire 80s and woefully remains off the radar of even the most adventurous prog stalwarts out there. This album is a perfect display of the avant-garde. An unknown masterpiece lurking in the shadows for 40 years this calendar year of 2024. Highly recommended for lovers of the most adventurous out there weirdo music to be found.