It takes a scene to raise a band and Sievehead are a product of the vibrant hub that is Sheffield's DIY punk community, one of the key cities in a resurgent UK punk scene that shows no sign of slowing down. Here they offer two tracks on the A-side of burly punk rhythms careening and rumbling through swirling post-punk vibes, catchy and insistent, a howl tamed and torn, packed with pain and power, showcasing the same dark propulsive energy that caught the attention of DIY music fans the world over on last year's 'Into The Blue' LP. Fans like Pure Gold, alter-ego of Dave Forcier (of the Steve Adamyk Band and Pregnancy Scares) and Tommy T (of the Classical Mishaps), who contribute a remix on the b-side here taking the song Try the Mirror from the LP and skinning Sievehead's vehement deathrock-tinged tumult and bathing the skeleton of the song in unsettling synth minimalism, creating an eerie weave of hisses, pops and echoes that could sit comfortably on an early John Carpenter soundtrack.
Our take: New EP from this Sheffield band and WOW is this a powerful and distinctive record! Even though this is only a 7", the two sides of the vinyl showcase two very different sides of the band. The a-side is just wild. The closest thing I can think to compare it to is the Birthday Party in the way that these songs are at the same time totally bombastic, dense, yet shot through with groove. I almost hate to compare these two tracks to anyone, though, because they are so completely singular. There's melody, there's heaviness, there's complexity, there's catchiness... it's just great. Then, as you want to happen on a killer 7", Sievehead change things up on the b-side, building things around an electronic pulse this time and doing something that's the same, but different. Maybe it's because the theatricality of the a-side carries over a little bit, but something about the whole thing also reminds me a little bit of the Virgin Prunes. I dare say that fans of contemporary bands like Destruction Unit, Ukiah Drag, or Ex-Cult will also love this, and maybe it's just because I get excited about hearing new things, but right now I'm thinking that Sievehead might even do this better than any of the three aforementioned bands. No, you've never heard about this band before, no they aren't d-beat, and no you can't flip the color vinyl version of their 7" for twenty bucks or whatever, but this is a killer EP.
Our take: New EP from this Sheffield band and WOW is this a powerful and distinctive record! Even though this is only a 7", the two sides of the vinyl showcase two very different sides of the band. The a-side is just wild. The closest thing I can think to compare it to is the Birthday Party in the way that these songs are at the same time totally bombastic, dense, yet shot through with groove. I almost hate to compare these two tracks to anyone, though, because they are so completely singular. There's melody, there's heaviness, there's complexity, there's catchiness... it's just great. Then, as you want to happen on a killer 7", Sievehead change things up on the b-side, building things around an electronic pulse this time and doing something that's the same, but different. Maybe it's because the theatricality of the a-side carries over a little bit, but something about the whole thing also reminds me a little bit of the Virgin Prunes. I dare say that fans of contemporary bands like Destruction Unit, Ukiah Drag, or Ex-Cult will also love this, and maybe it's just because I get excited about hearing new things, but right now I'm thinking that Sievehead might even do this better than any of the three aforementioned bands. No, you've never heard about this band before, no they aren't d-beat, and no you can't flip the color vinyl version of their 7" for twenty bucks or whatever, but this is a killer EP.