The Hellmenn
Being born and bred within Australia’s hotbed of surfing, skateboarding, art and music scenes of the eighties to nineties; we were pretty psyched upon hearing the news that one of our all-time heroes of that era; artist, illustrator and musician Ben Brown has released the entire back catalogue from his skate-punk band ‘Hellmenn’ on Spotify and Apple Music only last month. For those of you living outside Australia (or born after ’93); Ben Brown was the Hellmenn’s frontman, also well known for his grotesque, demented artwork which was an extension of the bands frantic approach to music making.
The Hellmenn launched onto the music scene in 1986 with their all-chaos and mayhemic style. Playing pubs, dirty clubs and supporting the likes of Henry Rollin’s during his Australian tours. They were young and brash, with a rawness that was synonymous to their thrashy energy. Outspoken too! Openly questioning the establishment within their lyrics and at shows - which is more than you would expect from four teens, during the 1980’s.
Between 1986 to 1994, the Hellmenn released 4 full albums and 8 singles/EP’s, before finally calling it a day in April of 1994. Eight solid years of noise making!
As the years progressed; music took a backseat to Ben’s artistic career, where he became known moreso for his iconic illustration style, which adorned a multitude of album covers and tour posters for some of the biggest music groups ever to play a stadium. During this course his illustrative work has also played contribution to the direction of brands, alongside filling out the pages of surf and skate publications with his imagery of loud, confrontational visuals.
By the late 2000’s, Ben had evolved into an Australian art icon. It was then that he created our first-ever tin graphic featuring a brutish rendition of Frankenstein - or ‘Frankie’ as we affectionately named him - for our Monster Hold pomade.
So, crack a beer, pour a coffee (or whatever beverage it is you consume) and enjoy the playlist + album catalogue below of the Hellmenn’s best work. And crank it loud!
