If you prefer your rock to be a bit weird, eclectic, random and guided by the advice of an alien then Hertfordshire quartet HeadAche are going to be the band for you. The band offer up a fusion of metal, rock, punk, hip-hop, R&B with a focus on amusing topics that they describe as “dope, gnarly and rad.”
The quartet of Johnny Bannister (vocals and guitar), Michael Button (guitar and vocals), Jay Majer (bass) and Leon Parsons (drums) started out as a punk rock band in 2015 when, in their words, “We were gifted our musical abilities by an alien that came to Earth in a lightning storm.”
And on what inspires their unique brand of rock, they told us: “We sing about shooting people with guns, smoking weed, party life, extraterrestrial activity, romantic relationships, learning to become superhero ninjas and, again, just whatever the alien tells us to do.”
Our latest taste of this extraterrestrial-guided music is their new single Higher, which was released at the start of this month. It opens up with a little synth over guitars and spoken vocals, which drop into a laid-back verse. Heavier guitars kick in as the vocals pick up pace, flowing into engaging chorus vocals that begin “Take me higher, Than I’ve ever been, It’s so much brighter, ‘Cause you make my heart sing.”
A second verse is supported by a pulsing synth sound before flowing into another catchy chorus, which continues into gruff vocals “Now I am higher than I’ve ever been in my life” that set up a final chorus. On the track, the band said: “Higher is already widely considered to be the best song ever recorded. There is no way you can possibly prepare yourself for how mind-blowingly dope, gnarly and rad it is.” Check out Higher in the video here:
That single follows on from their second album SpacePunk, which was released last year and gives us an insight into the HeadAche approach. It includes an intriguing mix of tracks, starting out with the chilled R&B/hip-hoppy BitchAssMuthaFucka and Light Em Up, stepping into electro-rock on Change The World, the really diverse Alien and the rockier Things I Wouldn’t Do.
Then there’s the more intense Chainsaw and funky Rockstar before the final track U Make Me, which features the lines “Can I please have some ketchup with my chips, That is what I like to eat, I do nothing but fuck, I will smack a bitch (That is not appropriate), I apologise for my bad language.” Then, just to finish things off there’s an outro song called Goodbye SpacePunk, in which an AI voice utters “Thank you for listening to SpacePunk by HeadAche, This has been a complete fucking waste of your time and you’re a fucking loser, Fuck you and goodbye you bunch of fucking assholes, P.S. suck my motherfucking robot genitals you bunch of lame-ass douches.” Cheers lads.
This pretty random mix is evident from the HeadAche sound being inspired by a wide range of bands and artists, including Michael Jackson, Prince, Stevie Wonder, Ramones, Black Sabbath, Quicksand, Helmet, Hum, Green Day, blink-182, Fall Out Boy, 2Pac, The Notorious B.I.G., Jay-Z, Nas and “Weird Al” Yankovic.
HeadAche are preparing to release their third album Something More which, we guess, will be released whenever the alien tells them to release it, but they tell us is “gonna be incredible.”
And the band adds: “HeadAche are the greatest band of all time and your life will be so much better once you familiarise yourself with our discography. Start with our 2015 self-titled EP, then our 2017 album The HeadAche, then our 2018 EP BrainPain, then our 2022 album SpacePunk. Peace be with you all.”
You can follow HeadAche on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, and check out their music on Spotify, Apple Music, Soundcloud and YouTube.
Listen to HeadAche on our Spotify playlists GigRadar Electro and GigRadar Rock
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