Fivehead - Big Mistake Factory - Tight Spot Records

Review by: Jennifer Perkins

I am almost embarrassed to admit that a great band like Fivehead has been under my nose for a long time and I never even noticed. They sent me the CD awhile back and it has sat in the pile collecting dust. To make matters worse - I live in the same town (Austin, TX) with these guys and I have never even seen them play or heard them. They had slipped through the cracks for me, but not anymore. Fivehead has found me and I am quite happy about it.

Fivehead makes good old-fashioned Indie Rock plain and simple. Guitars (John Hunt used to play bass for Silver Scooter), bass and male vocals reminiscent of Sebadoh. Nothing fancy or complicated just warm and fuzzy goodness. "Halftime Show" is a perfect example. Before everyone started adding moogs and layers upon layers of vocals there were bands like Fivehead and all was right in the world.

Big Mistake Factory opens with a somewhat quirky track entitled "Cape Codders". The song is dominated with a plucky bass line and accented with a swaying cello making for a perfect intro to the rest of the CD. Melancholy and slightly flat vocals are perfect in the mix. Speaking of the mix, being a snob of Austin recording studios I might mention the sound on this CD is impeccable.

Out of the 6 songs on Big Mistake Factory you would be hard pressed to find something to complain about except maybe that there are only 6 songs. From the slow and sad "# 1 Heart" to the almost spastic "Young and Compliant" this CD is as close to Indie rock perfection as I have seen come out of this town in a long time.

Read where Fivehead got their name from here.