The Heads

The Heads (1995 promo photo – clockwise l to r): Wayne Maskell (drums), Hugo Owen Morgan (bass), Paul Allen (gtr, keyboards), Simon Price (gtr, vocals)

Heads playlist

Contributor: Ann Sequinworld

The Heads came to life in the early 90s playing gigs in a garage in Bristol. They were inspired by psychedelic rock and also by bands such as the Stooges and Loop. In 1994, they released their first single Quad …

… on their own label, Rooster Rock Records, with the help of the owner of Bristol record shop, Replay, a much-loved institution now long gone.

Since then, the Heads have released numerous editions of their albums, in extremely limited quantities – usually two or three editions with altered artwork or sleeves and usually less than 100 copies, not to mention rarer promo editions. This trend seems to have begun with the original release of 33, so called because of the 33 copies they pressed. As a result of these limited pressings and altered sleeves the band have managed to create a niche market (source: Wikipedia).

I hope you enjoy playing these ten tracks and go on to explore the rest of The Heads’ catalogue

Spliff Riff – Relaxing With The Heads (1996)
“Full of twists that will turn your head inside out and turns that will make you twist in your sleep.”

and

Taken Too Much – Relaxing With The Heads (1996)
“It’s outrageous, like a freak show on acid, dirty like a bar-room floor, but most of all it’s gnarly.”

Television – Everybody Knows We Got Nowhere (2000)
“It sounds like surf rock that has been made by someone freaking out in a basement during a power outage.”

Cardinal Fuzz – Irrepressible Heads (2008)
“Psychedelic rock in its most psychotic reincarnation, the sound penetrates straight into the brain and there it creates unimaginable havoc.”

and

Legavaan Satellite – Everybody Knows We Got Nowhere (2000)
“Leans into another bloody-minded fuselage of strobing riffage, with every possible needle surged deep into the red.”

Creating In The Eternal Now Is Always Heavy – Under The Stress Of A Headlong Dive (2005)
“Like pulling up alongside a car hurtling dangerously about the motorway and gazing into the eyes of its driver to find him entirely calm and focused on his business.”

Return Of The Bemmie – Under The Stress Of A Headlong Dive (2005)
“Pounces from a lair of drone with a riff that’s mercilessly efficient, that’s viciously funky, that’s focused upon sending any clued-in head in the vicinity to neck-snap thrash.”

and

Delwyn’s Conkers – Everybody Knows We Got Nowhere (2000)
“Spins its wah-everythingness into a tight web of disorientation that effortlessly accesses your melting plastic brain.”

Quad – Relaxing With The Heads (1996)
“The Heads used a phalanx of din-mutating gadgetry to build a titanic beast of purest sound, which they sent pounding brutish fists downwards to dismantle the very core of the Earth.”

Widowmaker – Relaxing With The Heads (1996)
“That heavy psych sound that we haven’t yet managed to achieve before due to time and financial reasons.”

The Heads have released around twenty albums and EPs to date. They recorded three Peel Sessions in the 90s and are still playing with the same lineup today, having recently headlined at Kozfest 2019 in Devon.

The Heads playing Kozfest 2019 (photo on the band’s facebook)

“The Heads play around with noises that come from deep inside the recesses of a psyche that has fallen down the rabbit hole.”

Simon Price’s latest project is Kandodo.

The Heads at bandcamp

The Heads facebook

The Heads discography

The Heads at Discogs

Prog Archives: The Heads

Relaxing With​ The Heads (25th Anniversary Reissue)

The Heads biography (AllMusic)

Ann loves the psychedelic music of the 80s/90s. In between gigs, she runs her own business, Sequin World and Bead Monster. This is her second post for the site, the first was on Loop, others are in the pipeline. You can follow her on twitter @ann_sequinworld and other social media sites.

The quotes above are from reviews at the time of each record’s release, paraphrased here and there and attached to a song. This was a cut-up process and the quote may not originally have been about that particular song but … you know what … it doesn’t matter because it works.

TopperPost #809