The Heads | Artist
The Heads are a UK Psych rock band formed 1990 in Bristol, England, by Hugo Morgan (bass), Simon Price (guitar, vocals, keyboards), Wayne Maskell (drums) and Paul Allen (guitar, harp, keyboards, vocals). Their jam-based Stoner sound has earned them a strong cult following. The founding lineup came together from the remnants of two undistinguished Bristol bands Quinton and The Spasmodics. Their sound influenced by bands such as Loop, Spacemen 3 and The Stooges. To-date they have released a total of 21 studio albums, plus some excellent live sets and compilations. Outstanding albums include Relaxing With (1996), At Last (2003), Inner Space Broadcasts Volume 1 Part 1 (2012), the live album Tilburg (2008), and the archival set Reverberations Volume 1 (2020). The band also recorded three Peel Sessions between 1995 and 2000, as well as a session for UK radio broadcaster Mark Radcliffe. The band has also collaborated with fellow Bristol-based psych-ers Big Naturals, releasing three "joint" albums titled Rituals From The Heads & The Big Naturals Volume One, Two and Three. Critical reaction to The Heads' work tends to focus on the stoner drug-vibe of their music, with comparisons to artists like Helios Creed and the Band Chrome. Tyical review excerpts include "what a massive behemoth of utterly chaotic heavy psychic mess", "great straight-up stoner bigfuzz supermuff with a metallic tinge", and "Fucking mind blowing heavy trippy shit". 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 (five to ten copies). This trend seems to have begun with the original release of "33" – so called because of the 33 copies they pressed. The band sometimes take it in turns to produce each release. i.e. Everybody Knows We Got Nowhere was designed by Simon. Irrepressible was designed by Hugo. Time in Space was designed by Wayne and Vertigo Swill was designed by Paul. A friend of the band, Johnny O, also sometimes lends a hand in designing the sleeves and covers. As a result of these limited pressings and altered sleeves the band have managed to create a niche market, where completists can end up paying more than 20 times the original price for a CD – usually via eBay. Their first single was released in 1994, entitled The QUAD EP. This has become a collectors item with its Russ Meyer inspired sleeve and initial copies including a packet of cigarette papers with the name of the band printed on the front.
Artist Website: theheads/bandcamp
Featured Albums: The Heads
Related Artists: The Big Naturals, Soft Parade
