Seattle BTW Helvetia, aka Swiss transplant Jason Albertini, releases Helvetia’s Junk Shop on 9/15 via Static Cult. The lineup for the album included Scott Plouf (Built To Spill, Spinanes) on drums and Clay Parton on bass. Albertini did the rest, including listening to Meat Puppets II, Sleep’s Holy Mountain, and Bedhead’s Beheaded.

Musically, “Leading Towards An End” sounds like a finale. How’d you decide to make it the opener? There’s the wink of its title, of course: The collection ends with a song called “The End.”
It was either going to be first or last. Putting an album together, you tend to obsess about the ebb and flow between songs, especially tempo wise. “…Towards An End” is a little more lively then most Helvetia songs and I started to enjoy the idea of starting off the record with this tune that is almost an accumulation of a feel that is prevalent throughout, like a movie that begins with the finale and then shows the journey that leads up to that point. An end is just another beginning.

What’s the narrative? There seem to be a few threads.
Most of the narration is in the music, the lyrics aren’t really saying anything specific. It’s the mood of the music that informs you about what’s going on. The vocals are just conveying snapshots of a personal struggle and the consequences and limitations our physical/mental body suffers through time. The energy we release that roams forever. It doesn’t matter really … The drums and guitars know what’s going on.