Our favorite EP last year was from the number one synth-punk band in Aberdare, Wales…Head Noise. After coming to my attention five years ago, they have made plentiful EPs but “Twisted Histories,” is their first full length album since that fateful first review back in 2019. It will be in release as of next Thursday, May 30th but let’s examine it now!

Head Noise: Twisted Histories – UK – DL [2024]

1. Primordial Soup
2. Sheer Buccaneer!
3. Doin’ Science
4. Tojo Head Slap
5. Joust! Joust! Joust!
6. Mesopotamiamania
7. L.H.O.O.Q
8. Taft in the Bath
9. Napoleon Blown-Apart!
10. Habsburg Gobstopper
11. History of the Future
12. Time Mash

First cut “Primordial Soup” is a zesty, insistent chunk of technopop but of course it’s more than that from the mutli-disciplinary powerhouse that is Head Noise. It’s also a case of blatant product placement since it’s also the name of the band’s custom artisinal hot sauce! For those who’d [foolishly] eschew a half-million Scoville Unit condiment, we can at least enjoy the band’s deft bass playing with wailing, electric synth leads screaming over the top.

Since I was thrilled that Head Noise had the good taste to cover my fave rave technopop song “Computer Games” on their last EP, I’m also pleased as punch that they have revisited some of that song’s vibe to craft the earworm that was “Sheer Buccaneer!” Following the zippy intro, they cranked up the crunchy guitars aplenty for a muscular sound that managed to revisit piratical lyrical tropes for the first time since…Adam Ant?! Singer Mitch Tennant was indulging in some doubled vocals this time out for added emphatic punch. One simply had to love the gratuitous “arrrrh!!” samples interjected throughout the song before the song’s climax where numerous piratical soundbites filled the song.

The pre-release single “Doin’ Science” finally picked up on the science-geek energies that Thomas Dolby had unleashed a couple of generations ago, but better late than never, I say! And the pixelated, high energy synth-punk was a far distance onward from the synth-funk Dolby was proffering. The wailing Theremin shot through the tune gave it all a dash of jolting electric energy. It was the aural equivalent of licking 9v battery terminals.

As if that weren’t enough energy levels, the following track, “Tojo Head Slap” brought the band’s new penchant for roaring guitars to near parity with the quirky synths for a lovely balance of buzzing guitars and keyboards. The striking “Mesopotamiamania” posited the notion that Head Noise didn’t have to be pigeonholed in the synth-punk bucket as the oscillators were kept to a minimum on this song with the live rhythm section and twangy guitars leading the way. They even made space for some rhythm guitar chopping.

The lyrical point of view was careening all over the place, and as befit the title, all of history was being plundered for riotous song concepts [with some doozies still awaiting us]. I have always admired the band’s penchant for delving into fine art as grist for its songwriting mill, and could there be a better unity of form and content than in this group writing a song about Dadaist Marcel Duchamp’s puckish defacing of the “Mona Lisa” as his “readymade” piece “L.H.O.O.Q?” And for maximum contrast, this song was given a glorious synthpop music bed of the band at their most melodious and elegant; just when we expected them to apply the sonic jumper cables. This track showed the band at their most splendidly dancefloor-ready moment I’ve ever heard and it could have gone on for another few minutes for good measure. 12″ version anyone? I despise YouTube, and usually resist embedding, but the music video below is too good not to share.

“Taft In The Bath” was a song made from the spurious tale of the fattest US President getting stuck in the tub given a lively, DEVO-esque, “Speed Racer-like” treatment. I liked the meta-commentary in the song with varispeed backing vocals of disagreement claiming it wasn’t true even as the lead singer plowed forward in the most dubious taste. The near-title track “History Of The Future” was a winsome synthpop banger packed with ironic lyrics and a middle eight ripped boldly from The Human League’s “The Things That Dreams Are Made Of!” What was it Picasso said about stealing? Then the band exited the stage on a suitably glorious note with the actually anthemic “Time Mash;” proof that these jokers could have their cake and eat it too.

It’s been a pleasure to hear the point of view that Head Noise bring to their music. When I listen to it I can’t help but think that all of the people I know who treasure Weird Al Yankovic for his original songs [not his parodies] would be strong potential fans of Head Noise since they plow similar furrows in their own songs. All of it makes for a deep dive into New Wave tropes in a cliché-free fashion that’s peppered with hugely energetic music blending guitars, drums and synths in just the way I love best while served up with intelligence and humor second to none. It’s all yours for £6.00 as a lossless DL on Bandcamp as of next Thursday, and it is almost literally, serious fun. The band will be headlining their biggest show ever at Clwb Ifor Bach at the release party, also on Thursday, with the scarce physical copies of the album [LP and CD not in evidence in the Bandcamp store…yet, if ever] on their merch table, so isn’t it time for that trip to Cardiff, Wales you’ve been putting off for too long now? D.J. hit that button!

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