Album Review: False Heads – It’s All There But You’re Dreaming

I’m sure there may have been many reasons that this release back in March 2020 passed me by, possibly the onset of lockdown, although for most this might have been a reason not to miss anything (with little to do other than look forward to new music), but in my defence, busy was not the half of it.

So to the redress, now sees the physical release of this highly acclaimed debut, and we at the punk site have a chance to show our love for this album.

Out on the 8th Jan, the album comes on limited edition ‘Vinyl Effect CD’ containing 2 additional tracks, plus a limited edition silver vinyl LP, with an exclusive rework of ‘Twenty Nothing’ from Joe Cross (The Courteeners) for good measure.

So where do False Heads sit in the grand scheme of things?, simple answer is that if you’re a fan of Scuzz Rock you should be happy, but then there is the much more complicated yet realistic answer, if your a fan of everything that was great throughout the 70’s, 80’s 90’s and so on, this band have taken everything that in my opinion started with punk and unfolded throughout the subsequent 40+ years, intertwined it with a False Heads sense of now, to create something that hangs its hat where ever it feels like.

Easing you into an album that twists and turns in all directions is ‘Whatever You Please’ a slow electro acoustic ballad start, that builds into a huge riff led chorus crescendo, this swiftly and cleverly followed by ‘Fall Around’ with its use of riffs to create a melodic chorus that is very infectious and uplifting, which sets the mood for what is one of the stand outs of many, ‘Ink’ this opens with a sublime bass line that runs right through the heart of a track that also has guitar of Audioslave proportion, vocal screams of punk angst and mosh pits.

Next two up are ‘Twenty Nothing’ and ‘Slew’, songs of social media life, anti-press, songs that both leave a very strange pit in the stomach, just like the ones that happened the first time you heard Nirvana (Luke Griffiths vocal) or QOTSA (riffs that shake the foundations).

The whole album is filled from top to bottom with as much unapologetic brutal honesty you might wish for, beyond this though, a sense of sorrow and regret at a world hell bent on destruction.

The further and further you get into this album, the more apparent it becomes that this is an album of monumental importance, not only from a band point of view, but from a era defining moment in time.

Take ‘Steady on Your Knees’, imagine being on the fringes of a mosh pit, the bass reverbs around and weakens your knees, then the chorus kicks in and all hell breaks loose!  Then just as you’ve wiped someone else’s sweat from your face, ‘Wrap Up’ enters with its bleeding guitar, stomping bass, thunderous drums and come and get it! Vocal, now you are truly on your knees begging for more..   This all does pale into insignificance though when confronted with ‘Rabbit Hole’, my words are simply “fuck fuck fuck, is this for real!”  Well, yes it is.

Some albums grab you from the off, then let you down in the middle or maybe at the end, this album grabs you, flings you around the room for a while and then drops you at the end feeling used but not abused.

You can stream the album from all platforms HERE

But better than that and definitely better for the band and all other bands, you can get you hands on the real thing on the bands website HERE

Check out the video for Rabbit Hole below