headshear - "Headshear" Review

Artist/ Band: Headshear
Title: Headshear
Label: Big Balloon Music
Year of Release: 2006
Artist/ Band Link (click for details/ ordering)

The Review:

Wow upon first listening to Headshear's debut self-titled CD, I could have sworn it was a long lost instrumental Crimson album sometime prior to the Double Trio reformation. In reality, Headshear is a four piece consisting of Gwynn Adams (guitar), Deirdre Lynds (guitar), Van Spragins (bass) and Matthew Guggemos (drums), which hails from the Bay Area (SF). This quartet surely have studied the 80’s era Crimson. The end results are some of the most complex and dense instrumental progressive rock music and they do it without loosing melody.

Some of the titles on the CD remind me of what can be found on a Primus album, like "Mechanically Separated Chicken" , "Chunky Navy Parts I & II" and "Phivunk". Others fit in with Crimson like titles. In all Headshear has done what few instrumental bands done before, create a memorable release from start to finish.

I don’t have any favorites on this debut because, simply, they’re all good and flow so well and none of the players are showing off. It’s a group effort here and it shows. Headshear have made a fan out of me, and I’m not a big instrumental music fan. And their debut really needs to be in any serious progressive and instrumental rock fan’s collection.

Reviewed by Ron Fuchs on January 31st, 2007

Tracks:

1. The Walking Tapestry

2. Chunky Navy Part I

3. Phivunk

4. Complex Nothing

5. Mechanically Seperated Chicken

6. Urban Conversation

7. Viscous

8. Chunky Navy Part II

9. The Bitter Cold