DECENT SLAB OF ALTERNATIVE ROCK
Head With Wings are a US-based band who have been a performing act since 2009. Their forthcoming album, Without Intervention, is released on 20th October and is my introduction to them.
Their Bandcamp page can be seen at https://headwithwings.bandcamp.com/
The band are guitarists, Brandon Cousino and Sayre Whitford, vocalist, Joshua Corum, drummer, Mike Short and bassist, Joe Elliott. Importantly for this album, they have recruited rising keyboard guru/producer Vikram Shankar (Silent Skies, Redemption) to perform on, co-produce, mix and master the work. The aural outcome is very impressive.
It is difficult to describe this act’s music, which is never a bad thing as far as this website is concerned. They are a rock band who provide some blistering sounds, best described I suppose as alternative or post rock, but layered with some nice progressive sensibilities.
There are eight tracks on this relatively short 36-minute work. I am going to get the disappointing bit out of the way first, and this is a complaint I have raised more than once this year in terms of pieces of music which strike this reviewer as being far too curtailed, with interesting ideas and soundscapes being cut off before they have entered their prime. Indeed, I am beginning to suspect that this is part of a sort of collective mindset amongst part of the musical community in 2023.
The guilty parties in this case are Remnant and 26 Bell Chimes, both of which impress, but with a mere (slightly over) minute each. The former has an urgent guitar against some interesting effects and just as the chords rise, it is cut off. Yes, I know it is probably intended as a sort of lead into Galaxy which follows, but it is an idea and song concept in its own right. The same must be said for 26 Bell Chimes, which I think is gorgeous. Chimes, effects, a lovely guitar lilt, superb bass undertone, what could have been a celebration of spirituality a la The Division Bell is, instead, halted, and it is almost criminal. It is not as if they had run out of space on the disc.
The opening track is The Dream Broker. The lyrics on this fascinate me, and they remind me of countless words I saw back in the day when incredibly famous artists complained bitterly about the Svengalis and managers who ripped them off blindly. Hit after hit, excruciating television appearances, selling your soul to achieve the dream of musical and artistic triumph, only to find that you were still skint having not read the small print. Now, Head With Wings clearly do not fall within that age bracket, but there is a resonance with this in the words.
“I’ll Eat you alive
Put you in debt
Contractual life
That exists to destroy all creativity”.
Musically, it is rollocking, with some crunching chords interspersed with some delightfully melodic passages amongst the riffs, setting the template for the album. The keyboard effects are especially noticeable, as highlighted in my introduction. Corum tells his story well, with the right level of anger and cynicism, and his voice soars in perfect time with the almost symphonic post rock noise produced. This is a track I have grown to like a lot and it is an impressive beginning to proceedings.
This is followed by Task of Breathing, an interesting proposition which strikes me as being a discourse on self or finding that amidst the hypocrisy and ills of this world. This track is a more subdued and laid-back affair than the opener. It has some wonderfully complex percussion work combining with the pulsing bass and the guitars again create some nice melodies, with the soundscapes created by the keys vital to the piece. Corum can do yearning in his vocals very well, and as the track enters its final third there is a pleasing wall of sound created before a reprise of the opening segment.
I have already mentioned Remnant, and this leads into Galaxy, and we have a video of this now released and embedded here for you to enjoy. The lyrics talk of the planets, moons, the stars, black holes, Venus & Mars, but this is a narrative far closer to home, of unrequited love on the ubiquitous screens which now govern our lives. There are some gorgeously catchy beats in this track, a commercially aware piece of music I hope garners a lot of airplay. I think progressive funk rock, and rather enjoy it. There is a nice guitar solo and, again, the band’s ability to create a surround of noise is impressive.
Comfort in Illusion is the longest track on the album at 8:38, so not quite an epic-length track, but certainly ambitious. It is rather angry with loss of family, dignity, and violence. The anger which shines through is dominated by guitar and voice, but with some very strong effects and keys amidst this. As the comforting illusion sets in lyrically, we get a loud and proud expansion of the chords followed by a short guitar dominated instrumental passage which cries and then rocks out as the words return. The closing passage is dramatic and closes with a flourish.
Those Bell Chimes follow (why? Why so damned short?). Three Months follows this, a disturbed and disturbing rock song with definite violent undertones telling a story whose background I am not familiar with. There are some gorgeous bass melodies included in this, the instrument played impressively as a lead. Piano, crunching riffs, forceful vocals.
The album closes with Absolute Zero. The keyboards soaring above the riffs and thundering rhythm section are at the heart of all that is good about this closer. Some of the guitar chords are hypnotic and as the track develops it has the sense of the epic waiting to burst out before the riffs take control once more. This closer is dramatic, almost operatic in places with the piano, synths, and a dirty guitar riff, especially, giving strength to the unfolding story. The closing vocals are very good.
Without Intervention is worthy of your attention. Head With Wings go about their craft earnestly and produce a sonic wall with very clear progressive sensibilities, and although my personal taste would have wished to hear a wee bit more of said sensibilities, this is a welcome return to some harder edged rock music for this website to review.