Track By Tracks: BELLHEAD - Unicorn Bones (2020)

1. Snuff Film 1974:

The EP starts with a punch of pounding drums and dual basses BELLHEAD is known for. The song was written by Sheriff Michael Scabs whom both members of the BELLHEAD have written songs for previously. The band takes the song as a decree of intensity and often opens shows with it.

2. Unicorn Bones:

The story goes: “Once was a Widowmaker, Fell in Love with an Undertaker, Though the Love was Unrequited, One day to be Ignited” Sometimes Death is not an acceptable answer no matter how impossible it may seem. When one rules out the possible the impossible is all the remains. Would you seek the Bones of a Unicorn to Never be Alone? A Necromancer? An Alchemist? And a Topless Dancer? BELLHEAD is here to keep the tell going with a musical wink and a nod to Killing Joke and Magazine.

3. Always (Running After the Sun):

The most reflective songs on the EP. The second single shows off a more melodic pretty side of what two basses are capable of conveying. A slow foreboding, burning song asking for “one more chance”. A willingness to do whatever it takes including chasing after the Sun. The song builds something like David Bowie’s “Heroes” in the second half highlighting the great interplay of Ivan’s “high bass” and Karen’s “low bass” as the emotions intensified.

4. Knife:

This was the first song that BELLHEAD wrote as a band on the first day of getting together. It shows off BELLHEAD’s Industrial influences with heavily manipulated drums and bits of synths. The pounding drums and low drive a feeling of urgency and uneasiness as the high bass explodes in violent emotional outbursts reminiscent of Bauhaus. The lyric is a play on a killer who is stalking prey and may be part of a larger story across multiple songs if one looks closely.

5. Sidewinder:

The last track of the EP, is a discombobulated narrative about a female character who may not be what she seems. The music is as unreliable as the narrator quickly turning on itself before becoming something unrecognizable from the start. Flashes of The XX and 70’s glam, “Sidewinder” moves as if “Good Vibrations” was a very bad acid trip on Willy Wonka’s boat. The back and forth vocal play between Ivan and Karen finally culminates in a venomous crescendo akin to a Praying Mantis final orgazam while being consumed by their mate.