Nothingheads debut album punches it’s way out of your speakers from the beginning of ‘Private Pyle’ and doesn’t let up until ‘More Minutes Please’ ends some 35 minutes later. It’s an explosive, furious record that spans the gap between scathing post punk and riff heavy modern garage rock but quite rightly pays no real regard to genre boundaries. The overall feel seems to be a horror and bemusement at the current state of the world, an irreverent and fairly stark take on modern life.
The guitar sound ranges from sharp Keith Levene inspired spidery metallic barbs, discordant and abrasive, to big scuzzy garage punk riffs. The sardonic vocals are propelled along by a bone rattling bass sound and brutal kick in the balls whiplash drums. It’s a full sound but lean and aggressive. Although there’s a fairly frenetic pace throughout, typified by the sneering ‘Cabaret’ and current single ‘Salt’ with it’s spat out vocals and low-end rumble there are a few that burn a bit slower like the smouldering ‘Crumbs Of Pleasure’ and the slightly more detached grind of ‘Down The Doomhole’.
This is the more in your face end of the broad post punk spectrum. Escapism this isn’t, savage and uncompromising and full of spiky disaffected anger it is.
Find the album on Sister 9 Recordings here.
Gary Powell, October 2024
