The self-proclaimed South Wales’ finest New Wave Art-Punk Trio have finally released their debut album. Originally formed back in 2016 and with a trio of eccentric EPs under their belt. This is clearly a band to fall in love with – time and time again.

With Über Fantastique, Head Noise have put down on tape, a brilliant, out of the box, collection of modern/retro songs that border on genius. The likes of opener ‘Kingdom of Crooked Mirrors’, when put together with ‘200,000 Gallons of Oil’ are complete revelations. The utter welshness of the spoken word section of ‘Japanese Batteries’ throws this listener off a little, but on subsequent listens, makes me love it even more.

Describing themselves as a unique trio who are jam-packed with surreal nuances and very catchy oddball electro-pop tunes. This is never more evident than on ‘Anatomically Correct Shuffle’ and ‘Mystery Liquid’. The trio have clearly been working hard on this release as I really enjoyed their EP’s, which were like little tasters of whats to come and I am glad to hear this kind of music recorded with no thought given to what is ‘cool’ or ‘in’. I hear a lot of influences in the music, from the likes of Devo, Kraftwerk and The Flaming Lips, although there is an almost We’ve Got A Fuzzbox, And We’re Gonna Use It! feel to some of the songs, more in the attitude, rather than the actual songs themselves. Über Fantastique is an album that has been made by people who clearly love their music and the freedom that Head Noise affords them.

The trio are made up of Mitch Tennant, Wayne Bassett and Jordan Brill. The Cover art is by none other than Mitch’s father Will Tennant and adds an, even more, Art-Punk feel to the album and listening experience. This collection of songs is, without doubt, one of the most original debut albums to be released this side of the millennium and I can only hope that the band get to be revered for the pioneers that they truly are.

Buy ‘ Über Fantastique’ Here

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Author: Dave Tetley Prince