Headswim – ‘Despite Yourself’ (Sony/Trapped Animal)

Headswim – ‘Despite Yourself’ (Sony/Trapped Animal)

Formed in Essex in 1989 by brothers Daniel and Tom Glendining, Headswim released their debut album ‘Flood’ in 1994. Following the death of their brother Matthew after a long battle with leukaemia, the band went on hiatus and re-emerged in 1987 with their sophomore album ‘Despite Yourself’. 

Veering away from the grunge sound of their debut, ‘Despite Yourself’ was a reflective album, exploring themes of death and spirituality, taking the band in a more alternative rock direction.

Now, almost 20 years down the line, Trapped Animal reissue this stunning body of work, with 7 bonus tracks, on vinyl for the very first time.

Headswim were a band I was certainly aware of at the time.‘Tourniquet’ was a top 30 single and saw the band appear on mainstream UK shows such as TOTP and TFI Friday, but maybe it was the Radiohead comparisons that put me off purchasing the album at the time. My bad, as ‘Despite Yourself’ has much broader influences than Thom Yorke’s crew, but that said, it certainly is not an easy listen.

The mid 90’s was such a rich breeding ground for rock music, a time when alternative was mainstream, and music had a dark edginess to it. Given the lyrical themes, ‘Despite Yourself’ fits the musical landscape perfectly.

Lead single ‘Tourniquet’ opens proceedings. It is the perfect mid 90’s alt rock single. The falsetto vocals and the moody backing builds to an abrasive chorus that owes as much to Soundgarden and U2 as it does Radiohead. 

‘Hype’ comes on like a grungy U2, Dan’s vocals certainly have a Bono feel to them here.

The acoustic led ’Clinging To The Wreckage’ is emotive and heartfelt. Dan pouring his heart on his sleeve and not for the last time during the course of this album.

It’s no surprise that the radio friendly ‘Better Made’, with its soaring strings and uplifting chorus was a single, it’s rich and instantly gratifying. Elsewhere, ‘Old Angel Midnight’ sounds like something off The Cult’s self-titled ‘94 album, which makes sense. The acoustic led, stripped-back ‘Holy Ghost’ is simple and full of harmony. It builds with strings and keys that just help to accentuate the beautiful feel of the song. 

As a whole ‘Despite Yourself’ is a deep album that keeps giving the more you scratch beneath the surface. The soaring vocals and instrumentation give an ethereal feel and the abrasive guitars add punch. The trip-hop beats of ‘Wishing I Was Naive’ and ‘Moving On’ are the only thing that ages the album, yet as a whole it sounds pretty fresh in 2024.

The Radiohead comparisons are realised on the bonus tracks rescued from the Sony archives. The haunting ‘Last Subway Coma’ and the rockier, Soundgarden feel of ‘Plagued’ are certainly worth exploring more than once.

I was also surprised that I knew ‘No Ticket’ really well, is it a cover? A bit of digging and turns out it was previously available on ‘Summer Slam’, a compilation CD given away free with Kerrang! Remember, that was one of the only outlets for new music pre-streaming days for us music junkies. It’s the strongest of the bonus cuts for sure and should’ve been on the album. 

An alternative version of ‘Tourniquet’ with strings recorded at Abbey Road wraps the album up and adds even more cinematic soundscapes to a 90’s classic. 

1998 may seem like a lifetime ago, yet ‘Despite Yourself’ holds up well after all these years.

Hats off to Trapped Animal for the latest in their Headswim reissues, reacquainting those who were fans with the band, hopefully gaining some new ones along the way, and ultimately giving this lost 90’s classic the treatment it truly deserves. 

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Author: Ben Hughes

Duff McKagan – ‘Lighthouse’ (BFD/ Orchard/ Sony)

Duff McKagan – ‘Lighthouse’ (BFD/ Orchard/ Sony)

Duff certainly has been a busy boy in the last 18 months since his last solo album hit the streets. Touring with his day job in Guns n Roses, playing on the new magnificent eclectic Iggy Pop album and finding the time to record his latest eclectic masterpiece. ‘Lighthouse is less an acoustic reflective and dark affair that the last one was but is more upbeat whilst still retaining the Americana acoustic feel for large swathes of this effort. Title track and sombre opener merely eases you in for the epic widescreen adventure of ‘Longfeather’ thats like an arcing sunrise of sound bursting through the speakers, McKagan leads the band with an excellent engagingly warm vocal that will have you hanging off his every word as the sound build and builds.

I must admit I’m really impressed with this more mature Duff we are hearing, it would be easy for him to hash out a roots punk rock n roll record or lean on his day job band but instead he digs deep and really works on the melodies and arrangments and the huge brush strokes that paint this rich tapestry of rock n roll. ‘Holy Water’ builds on a solid bass line as it weaves a crooked path through some great vocals towards its lush chorus its a beautiful thing at volume.

‘Hope’ (featuring veteran Paul McCartney drummer Abe Laboriel Jr and melodic lead guitar from Slash) and the philosophical ‘I Just Don’t Know’ (featuring contributions from McKagan’s longtime friend, Jerry Cantrell of Alice in Chains) to name check some of the players who lend a helping hand to these deeply personal songs.

‘I Saw God On 10th Street’ is an acoustic rocker that has one foot in acoustic punk rock whilst the energy and buskability is what drives this song towards the superb electric solo and handclaps that raise your soul and paint a smile on the coldest heart. ‘Fallen Down’ is a beautiful slice of organ driven soulful balladry bu tthe albums biggest strength is the ebb and flow and quality of the songs delivery and that has to be down to the fact that McKagan truly believes in the words he’s singing and its joyful even in the darkest corners of this record.

Don’t be disapointed that its not like bursting with punk rock n roll anthems because the ones here like ‘Just Another shakedown’ deliver enough quality next to the ebb and flow I was talking about earlier next to the sweet ‘the Fallen Ones’ and then were onto ‘Hope’ where Slash plays a blinder as the song shuffles to its powerful conclusion. In contrast Cantrells playing on penultimate track ‘I Just Don’t Know’ is laid back and empathetic rather than showing off and its all about the song and not the player which makes the songs even better.

Leaving the ‘Lighthouse reprise’ to wrap up a fantastic journey through another mighty fine record from Duff McKagan and having Iggy Pop speak as the sunsets on one of 2023’s finest albums it’s the two musicians who played on my favousite from way back in January because this and ‘Every Loser’ will easily make my top 10 for 2023. Buy It!

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Auther: Dom Daley