The UNNATURAL HELPERS have been banging around Seattle for a few years now as the perennial hobbyhorse of singer / drummer / songwriter / sole consistent member Dean Whitmore, who has also spent time with such Seattle outfits as the INTELLIGENCE, WELCOME and DIPERS. In addition to Whitmore, the band is fleshed out by Brian Standeford and Leo Gebhardt (both in CATHETERS, TALL BIRDS, IDLE TIMES), Chris Martin (KINSKI), and Kimberly Morrison (THE DUTCHESS & THE DUKE). Recorded over the course of a week with Seattle mainstay Kurt Bloch (FASTBACKS, etc), this particular incarnation of the UNNATURAL HELPERS seems to have hit a nerve - "Cracked Love & Other Drugs" is 15 songs that conflict and compliment, in just over 25 minutes. Ricocheting between broken and twisted relationships, mock fatalist wink nodage, knucklehead party racket, absurd isolationist paranoia and open book love-letter sap-crap with the prevailing sentiment being summarily diffused just before it has gone too far. This push and pull friction along with great pop sensibilities and good old fashioned rock & roll KRAANG is in the end what makes "Cracked Love & Other Drugs" such an intriguing, appealing listen.