Band: Headcount
Release: Lullabies For Dogs (Album)
Release Date: Out Now
For the last 13 years or so, Headcount have been major players in Oxfordshire’s underground music scene. ‘Lullabies For Dogs‘ is the band’s fourth release and the follow up to 2008’s ‘To The Point‘. We take a look to see if those “hell bound pig-fucking devil dogs” still have what it takes after five years away.
In all honesty, this album begins with a rather eerie and strange intro which borders on the uncomfortable (but in a good way). It features a trio of young, girlie vocals (collectively referred to as The Witches) chanting over a wailing guitar of seemingly white noise. As the vocals fade out, the guitar riffs are made more audible and are seamlessly woven into the the start of the first full track on the album: ‘Liar‘.
This is when the album really starts to pick up pace. Throughout this release there are essentially two different types of tracks: half being the slower, more melodic pieces which show off the band’s instrumental skills to a high standard (‘News Corpse‘, ‘Greed‘, ‘What I’m Worth‘ etc). The rest being the fast paced, with riffs that border on the metalcore side, teamed with the almost operatic vocal selection – these tracks being the person favourites (‘Twisted Lullabies‘, ‘Cross The Line‘ and ‘Heaven Help Us All‘ – once the water-themed intro subsides to fully hit you between the eyes).
In terms of production, although on the outset ‘Lullabies For Dogs‘ could be mistakenly written down as having something lacking in terms of production, on closer listen this seems like it was a much more intentional process. The production efforts give this album a real raw and natural sound to it, as though this is how it is meant to sound (whether this be in a live setting or on record).
So Headcount are back and thankfully so. They may not be the most polished and pristine sound Oxford has ever produced but that’s not how Headcount roll – its raw, its flawed, its passionate and its pretty damn good! Hopefully though, we won’t have to wait another five years for more material.
8/10
Reviewer: Amy Jones
