The Heads, debut album, Relaxing With... originally released in 1996, is due for a re-mastered, re-release on August 30th, packed with an extra disc including unreleased tracks and John Peel sessions.
The Bristol four piece, produce a psychedelic mass of feedback, riffs and amp blowing noise, straight from the underground scene created by the likes of the Stooges, Hawkwind and The Velvet Underground.
Recorded during a time when Brit Pop was the norm, this music reminds us of some of the great acts, who helped to carve the way for today’s groups while remaining fresh and current. Even now, 14 years on, this music does not sound dated and as John Peel once said. “If that’s not a freakout, then I’m a Dutchman.”
The original album, on disc 1, is a huge mass of stonking riffs, deep, knee trembling bass and thumping percussion. Huge in sound, yet disturbingly chilled out, this is music to get lost in.
Experimental from start to finish, with vocals that ooze coolness. This is an album that rips up the rule book and defies stereotype.
Ultimately void of a bad track, Slow Down and Taken Too Much, exemplify the group’s ability to play with your heart rate, as the music’s sheer volume and tempo set the pulse racing, while the relaxed, psychedelic passages of vocals, numb the senses and almost stop the heart from beating, with their chilled out appeal.
To end the first disc, comes Coogan’s Bluff, 45 minutes of guitar and drum beat excess, this monstrous track is a 45 minute trip, and I’m not talking the kind that requires a picnic, complete with highs and a comedown at the end, it is a piece of rock music that deserves a review in its own right, if you can bare to listen to the excess for the full 45 minutes that is.
Disc 2, begins with 1991’s demo, Spliff Riff, a frantic blaze of stomping drums and fuzzy, screaming riffs. The 9 minutes of mind bending noise, sets the tone really for what follows, original versions and b sides of tracks from disc 1 and brilliantly raw Radio 1 sessions, including 5 John Peel sessions at the end of the disc.
This album is a mind bending, hallucinogenic of experimental, psychedelic chaos and noise that demands a place on your record collection, right between Raw Power and The Velvet Underground & Nico.
Stereoboard Rating 8/10.
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Experimental from start to finish, with vocals that ooze coolness. This is an album that rips up the rule book and defies stereotype.
