It's not the style of music
Bedhead makes that's unique, it's the band's approach to that music. The five members are masters of making an emotional connection through an approach that is careful and deliberate. At the heart of the band is an indie rock sound that can be traced back to the most pleasant material of
the Velvet Underground. A trio of guitars lays down unexceptional, strummed accompaniments; vocalists employ a reserved sing-speak; the drummer maintains a lazy pulse. However, with
Bedhead these elements are so perfectly executed that the music seems to play itself. Carefully plucked melodies rise up and soar out of guitar chords; drummer
Trini Martinez quietly maintains a tight grip on the music's dynamics, opening up as the sound takes flight; each of the three guitarists (
Matt and
Bubba Kadane and
Tench Coxe) exercises more restraint than would be expected from the average, individual axeman in a trio of guitars.
Beheaded opens with the deceivingly dark title track. One of the group's most awkward melodies frames the soft-speaking vocalist who hides among the guitar tones. After crawling through this territory, "Beheaded" opens up into a typically angelic melody. "Roman Candle" and "Withdraw" (both adding shades of slide guitar) recall the stripped-down sound of the group's 4-songEP19:10 (1994). On
Beheaded, however, any inconsistencies and small shortcomings have been removed in the studio. Thankfully,
Bedhead has always sounded like a group of five musicians in a room together, and
Beheaded engineer Adam Wiltzie maintains that atmosphere throughout.
Bedhead's sophomore full-length represents another stop on the road to slow-burning, soaring, indie rock/pop perfection. ~ Nathan Bush