Album Review: The Head - Space

The Head, who consist of twin brothers Mike and Jack Shaw and their friend Jacob Morrell, from Atlanta, are good musicians.

They can craft a catchy hook, build a wall of sound and play with uncanny timing that would make even a bog standard comic successful.

It is a shame then that this, their third full length record, can feel so bland and lifeless at times.

Everything that makes a rock record work is largely missing. That feeling of mates playing together in a garage. A sense of utter desperation to rock out. A raw energy with a Neanderthal base instinct.

It is these qualities that separate a lot of bands that prove popular in basement indie clubs the country over from the perfectly crafted echelons of the pop charts.

The vocals feel a little flat. Tracks like Lilies and You just meander from start to finish, feeling like the densest of rivers creeping lazily over its bed.

It's like a Britpop band late to the party, a sound that would have brought them huge underground status a couple of decades ago but now feels dated and out of place.

It is hard to praise their clearly elegant musical ear when so little in the tracks actually grabs you and makes you think 'man, I just have to play that song again'.

These tracks may sound better live when the production will be less intrusive, but sat on a record this tweaked it feels like a slog rather than a slither.

When they do crank the guitars up, such as in the chorus and interludes of I Wanna Be Loved, they suddenly do display an agitated grit that lifts them above the flatness. Get You There, too, produces a raucous instrumental that is slapped forward by chest thumping drumming from Jack.

But a lot is instantly forgettable, even when they do flirt with sounds like The Smiths on Broken Scheme and Doves on Tea Coloured Radio. It's a real shame.

Rating: 5/10

The Head play at Birmingham's Dare's Bar venue this Saturday, November 4.