Uglyhead – Disembodied (EP – Uglyhead)
Genre/Influences: Industrial, electro-industrial.
Format: Digital, cassette.
Background/Info: Driven by Jake Alejo, the American project Uglyhead is now already active for two decades. Some records are purely solo-like while others are featuring extra members (guests). On “Disembodied” Jake Alejo invited Galen Waling (Lords Of Acid, Left Spine Down) to play acoustic drums on the title track.
Content: It’s not an easy thing defining the sound of Uglyhead. It has something retro-like in the electronic sound treatments while driven by bombastic rhythms. Sometimes exploring total chaos and next moving on the path of dark-electronics, this work sounds first of all very eclectic.
+ + + : The work’s diversity makes its originality! I like the opening piece for its retro-element, but also both last songs, which have something more dark-electro driven. The atmospheres hanging over the work are important here and especially the last cut “The Funhole” is worth of examination.
– – – : I’m missing a bit of power in some songs. It sometimes feels like a band still in search of a real sound identity. I expected a bit more from the title song.
Conclusion: I can’t say Uglyhead has totally convinced me although I have to admit the last song opens an interesting path for the future.
Best songs: “The Funhole”, “Too Real For Love”.
Rate: (6).
Artist: www.uglyhead.org / www.facebook.com/uglyheadmusic
About Uglyhead
Uglyhead is the project of American musician Jake Alejo, active since 2000 and known for pairing retro-leaning electronics with heavier, chaotic arrangements across releases including “From Time To Time…” (2006), the paired “Outward” and “Inward” (2007) and “The Garden” (2012). For “Disembodied”, Alejo brought in Lords of Acid and Left Spine Down drummer Galen Waling for acoustic drums on the title track.
Support Side-Line
More people read Side-Line than ever, and there is still no paywall and no advertising. Readers pay for it instead - from $5 a month.
Why we ask
Advertising revenues across the media are falling fast. Unlike many news organisations we have not put up a paywall, and we refuse to add annoying advertising, so we need to ask for your help. Side-Line’s independent journalism takes time, money and hard work to produce, and we do it to push the artists we like, who are equally fighting to survive.
Handled by PayPal.
I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.
