Hands on Heads

Rate It! Avg: 3.0 (65 ratings)
Hands on Heads album cover
Album Information
EXCLUSIVE // EDITOR'S PICK

Total Tracks: 12   Total Length: 15:27

eMusic Review 0

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Alex Naidus

eMusic Contributor

04.22.11
Four Londoners create gloriously spazzy synth pop.
Label: eMusic Selects

Get in. Get dizzy. Get out. That's the slashed-up synth-pop gameplan of London's Hands on Heads, a quartet whose hyper-caffeinated songs hover around the one-minute mark. There is method, though: doses of frantic keyboard skronk quickly give way to bouncy singalongs, often several times in the same song. And don't say they didn't warn you: raucous blurt of an album opener "Is An Umbrella Really Necessary?" lasts all of 35 seconds. No wave don't mean no fun.

Erase Errata's mangled guitar scratches, the one-finger keyboard jabs of Numbers and even the wacked-out, life-affirming synth anthems of Atom and His Package echo across Hands on Heads. But it's neither tribute or regurgitation, as the songs — which they say are about "righteous joy" and "the supernatural everyday" — pummel while showing whimsy, even as they buzzsaw your skull. Check the descending bizzaro-carnival organ line on "Romantic Aorta" or the punk-playground anthem "X as Two Sticks," that galloping squall of a verse stopping on a dime for a surprisingly sing-songy chorus. Totally (Melt) bananas.

Through it all, Luke and Christopher (the bassist and guitarist who split vocal duties) yelp wide-eyed about not wanting to be alone, "drawing triangles on the walls"… read more »

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My god, this is awful

msuzio

Wow, this is really bad. I downloaded it assuming I should trust eMusic to guide me right, but this is just... horrible. Not even horrible in some artistic way, just bad. Not a recommended download for anyone besides really enthusiastic Dadaists.

user avatar

definitely

ihatewesley

my favorite emusic selects artist of 2008. think early XTC with a bit of the X-Ray Spex thrown in for good measure. the emusic review's comparison to more recent bands like Erase Errata and Numbers is apt, but i think i like Hands on Heads even better. the type of band 5RC would probably sign if that label were still around.

user avatar

intense, to be sure

chris.arnesen

hands on heads songs move a mile in a minute. sometimes maniacal, sometimes musical, but always entertaining. five stars.

user avatar

Ditto to lyrx review

ewetwo

This is freakin' awful! (Unless it's meant as a joke?)

user avatar

Klaus Nomi lives

lyrx

I guess that anything can get recorded. I hope these guys didn't spend much valuable time throwing this together. Maybe when they reach middle school their sound will develop into something more than an curiosity. Have they been influenced by Klaus Nomi?

user avatar

Size Doesn't Matter

AwesomeNickname

To each his/her own, but personally I don't understand rating a disk based solely on the duration of the tracks. This rocks. See the Minutemen for another example of beautiful brevity.

user avatar

Microperfect

shrinkwrapped

If you're one of those eMusic subscribers who only like to download really looooooong songs to get their money's worth, I beg you to reconsider dismissing this collection. Each track contains more ideas and tiny pop gems than some artists bother with in whole albums. The point with HoH is that they rarely repeat a verse or chorus so each track is over in a flash. No problem. Just listen to the whole lot again. AND PAY ATTENTION.

user avatar

hmm

reuse

like a lime and vinegar chaser. agree with the reviewer about the standout track.. very like early cardiacs - please emusic, bring us the cardiacs so lovely people can see what i mean??

user avatar

Bouncy And Fun

blurboy435

Want to slit your wrists? Then put away your Bright Eyes albums and give this band a listen. Guaranteed to be better than Prozac.

user avatar

...just brilliant!!

bjarkirafn

I just fell in love with this album! Love their happy, happy, joy, joy cheerfulness playing! I totally recommend it! Awesome!

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