The story of Helmet in the early '90s isn’t one that can be effectively told through the usual checklist of music industry awards and accolades. There aren’t any easy-reference stats or figures that speak to their true status or impact. Instead, for a sense of where they were at, and what the world thought back then, it’s instructive to turn towards the era’s indubitable bastions of good taste and distinction, Beavis and Butthead.
In a 1993 episode of their hit MTV show entitled Beware Of The Butt, Helmet's video for Unsung, the sole single from the New Yorker’s second album Meantime, was aired. Following some entirely predictable sniggers at the quartet's chosen band name, our adolescent anti-heroes briefly fell silent in appreciation.
“If you, like, saw these guys in the street,” Butthead sagely noted, “you wouldn’t even know that they’re cool.”
