Bedhead Albums (3)
What The Critics Say
Bedhead was a quintessential indie rock band. What distinguished the group, however, was the way it combined the genre's modest ambitions with careful song construction and rock & roll's sense of grand dynamic excitement. There are no complex structures, highly expressive vocalists, or thrilling improvisations on a Bedhead album, but there is the music of a band exceptional at its particular craft. There is often an exquisite buildup in a Bedhead song. On Transaction de Novo the group achieves this both in each song's internal structure and externally as the album progresses. The short "Exhume" steps lightly through typically low-key vocals, a melodic bassline, and a chiming melody. "More Than Ever" follows, entering with lazy drum hits. Bedhead makes every note count and, consequently, a few notes can mean a great deal. Here, the band sketches the melody with minimal guitar; it's the less-is-more approach at its most convincing. "More Than Ever" builds at a relaxed pace only to pull back as its last note is struck. "Parade" creates more anticipation, then delivers with a glorious release. On Transaction, tightly controlled bursts always fit each song's progression, and there is no sense of indie kids toying with noise in the guise of creating a confrontational sound. Bedhead only begins to lose potency on the forceful assault of "Psychosomatica"; few of the group's strengths are evident as the song pounds forward with slices of overdriven guitar. Bedhead used simple elements, making Transaction de Novo seem effortless, yet when a band like this comes along, there is no denying how special it is. This was the quintessential indie rock band because it delivered some of the best the genre is capable of: workaday vocals that actually work, gorgeous melodies (though uncommercial, this music doesn't have to be indigestible), and dynamics that could crush the listener. Unfortunately, Bedhead broke up shortly after Transaction de Novo, though it's hard to imagine the group perfecting this sound much further. ~ Nathan Bush, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
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, All Music Guide
'What Fun Life Was'
Release Date 4/4/1994
Tracks 11
Label Trance Syndicate
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
It didn't seem like it at the time, but with the appearance of this, Bedhead's debut, and Low's own first album some months later, the zeitgeist of post-grunge indie rock started to shift toward something more reflective and restrained. Not that WhatFunLifeWas doesn't steer clear of loud moments, to be sure; many of the songs use swelling transitions from quieter to noisier performance and back, all while avoiding the abrupt soft-loud-soft cliché of the time. However, even at the band's most explosive, there's less a sense of getting ripped out of your head on sound than there is a tension between steady, careful performance (drummer Martinez especially so) and more wide-ranging power. The various comparisons to the Velvet Underground, Joy Division, and Spacemen 3 all make a certain sense, but even at this early stage of the band's life, Bedhead have much more of an individual sensibility, something that fuses and looks beyond rather than simply rehashing. Things sometimes can be a touch more playful than expected -- "To the Ground" is almost jaunty -- but otherwise the moods are calm and often blue, and a large part of that lies in the singing. Matt Kadane's soft, understated semi-drawl doesn't slot easily into comparisons, and its contrast with the band's music is often striking. "Haywire," an epic guitar blast with an almost giddy surge to music and performance, gets additional intensity against Kadane's barely-there vocals. In the quieter moments, like the openings of "Crushing" or even more so, the flat-out lovely "Powder," the intensity level is ratcheted even higher; the overall performance is not so much easy listening as it is a prompting to listeners, who must lean forward to catch everything. Add the intertwined guitar work of both Kadane brothers, who combine power and control excellently, and listeners need ask for little more. ~ Ned Raggett, All Music Guide
