ALBUM REVIEW: Push – HEADS.

HEADS. are a trio from Berlin, Germany. The post-punkers return with their third album Push, which follows up from Collider and Heads. This album was recorded with Christoph Bartelt from the band KADAVAR and iIt was mixed and mastered by CULT OF LUNA‘s Magnus Lindberg. The Berlin band have been around since 2014, and have gained a following after playing a number shows over the years.

Empty Town opens the album and presented as a spoken word with industrial noises playing in the background, it quickly captures your attention. Despite its short run time of only two minutes and fifteen seconds, it not only is an ear-grabbing introduction, but also smoothly transitions into Weather Beaten. An angrier, grungier song than the previous one, Weather Beaten should not work as a follow-up to Empty Town, but it does. This is due to the smooth production. The vocals are much impacting as they are shouted. The drums really drive the song along. Despite the juxtaposition, the pacing is not affected.

Push You Out To Sea is an upbeat song thanks to its rockier guitars and calmer vocals, this song sounds like it could be as summer song from a pop-punk band. As the song progresses, HEADS. smoothly transitions into the next track, entitled Loyalty. Despite being slower than the previous songs, Loyalty manages to be effective. The stripped-back vibe allows the album to have a resting point. The transitions between songs on this album are flawless, and Loyalty is no exception as its transition into Rusty Sling is hardly noticeable.

Unfortunately, Rusty Sling is definitely rusty. It sounds like a rough cut that accidentally made it onto the album, due to the fact that the song sounds rushed. Despite this, the start of the song is calming as it is a slow instrumental section. Unfortunately, the song’s potential to be good ends when the vocals come in. It undermines the impact of the song by shoving the instrumental section to literally being background music.

The album limps from song to song until it reaches the penultimate Paradise, the seven minute song is long, but fairly cohesive. The spoken word vocals fit the sombre tone of the song, and the instruments are used sparingly. The guitar solo at the end is very effective. Final song As Your Street Gets Deserted is only a minute and a half long. It has the same industrial background noises and the same spoken word. It is nice to see the album come full circle.

Despite the second half of the album being melodic and slow, HEADS. is a project with a lot of heart behind it. The vocals are fresh, and the production is smooth. The instruments are the stars through, as they constantly change and evolve. A slightly disappointing, but overall promising album.

Rating: 6/10

Push is out now via Glitterhouse Records.

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