Anderson From Crazyhead & The Hedonists – Milk The Badger

Back in the 1980’s something emerged from the UK’s alternative subculture that the UK music press dubbed ‘Grebo’, this was essentially a collection of bands that didn’t fit into the pigeonholes of the era, not abrasive enough for the era’s punk scene, too harsh for the indie scene, not heavy enough for the metal scene and too outsider for the mainstream. This loose collection of bands ranged from the psychedelic tinged madness of Gaye Bykers On Acid to the hip hop infused indie of Pop Will Eat Itself through to the leather clad racket of Zodiac Mindwarp & the Love Reaction, and of course Crazyhead, who brought a blast of garage influenced punk rock. The grebo scene, such as it was, was a hedonistic loose collective, the gigs were fun and unpretentious and for a few short years the songs were on regular rotation in the sweaty little alternative clubs of the era, alongside the goths, the hippies, the indie kids and the punks.

Now Anderson, the former frontman of Crazyhead, is bringing some off that hedonistic era back with his appropriately named band, Anderson From Crazyhead & The Hedonists, who have released their debut album, Milk The Badger. The story goes that Anderson was invited to join Leicester, UK band The Qwarks for a Crazyhead song and revisiting some prime 60’s garage. The night was fun, and the union has persisted with The Qwarks becoming The Hedonists for this endeavour. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that this album leans heavily into Crazyhead’s back catalogue, particularly their early singles and their magnificent debut album, Desert Orchid. It also features a few covers, which were also in Crazyhead’s repertoire, but this is not just a step back in time as there are also some fresh compositions on display.

You’ve probably already gathered I was a fan of Crazyhead, I saw them many times in now long defunct venues which are now either demolished with flats built on the site, or have become supermarkets. I danced badly to them at Nightclubs, which have suffered similar fates to the venues they played, and I saw the majority of the bands that were lumped together under the grebo umbrella. On Milk The Badger, Anderson From Crazyhead  & The Hedonists have revisited some classic cuts from the era which feel rawer and recall Crazyhead’s earlier singles and their live performances, rather than the slightly more polished studio recordings. This is no bad thing and it makes sense, there seems to be no going forward as far Crazyhead are concerned, so going back to roots makes perfect sense.

Milk The Badger kicks off with a spirited version of Time Has Taken It’s Toll On You which confirms that this is not a lacklustre nostalgia fest, as does a raw garage fuelled rendition of What Gives You The Idea That You’re So Amazing Baby, and the same approach is applied to I Don’t Want That Kind Of Love. If there was one thing a lot of the grebo bands had in common it was a love of a ridiculously long song title, and Crazyhead were no exception. Buy A Gun sounds re-energised, never one of my favourites from the Crazyhead canon, this version provides the energy it may have been lacking first time around. The superb Baby Turpentine gets the welcome and frantic outing it deserves, but if you want to hear the original you’ll have to delve into YouTube. The trawl through Crazyhead’s early days continues with energetic blast through Jack The Scissor Man and a grinding That Sinking Feeling.

The covers arrive in the form of 60’s garage standards Fortune Teller and Have Love Will Travel, which were both covered by Crazyhead and appear on the expanded version of Desert Orchid that lurks in your streaming platform. Some may be surprised by the inclusion of Cher’s Bang Bang, to me Crazyhead added some much needed punch to this 60’s pop song long before Quentin Tarantino made it cool by including it on Kill Bill, and this version delivers on that front. It’s true to the original but delivered with a more menacing feel than the lovelorn vibe of the original. The album ends with two new originals, Bad Penny Blues, that leans into their garage rock roots, and the funky and wah-wah laced Hairy Balls. The new compositions bring things full circle as neither would have sounded out of place back in the mid to late eighties where the seed of Anderson From Crazyhead & The Hedonists was sown.

Anderson From Crazyhead & The Hedonists have not ploughed new ground, this is a very much a celebration of Crazyhead and their garage rock influences, and there is nothing wrong with this. Many of these bands from that era have been reduced to footnotes in history, but those who were there remember this time and they remember it fondly, the songs, the clubs, the gigs and festivals… and the accompanying intoxicants, that may be why these memories are a tad hazy. Crazyhead and the other bands from this era deserve a resurgence, go Milk The Badger and then explore Crazyhead’s Desert Orchid and Some Kind Of Fever, and Fucked By Rock if you can find a copy and want to hear their early raw material. Anderson From Crazyhead & The Hedonists will also be out on the road this Spring and Summer, including appearances at Alice’s Wicked Tea Party and Rebellion Festival bringing back the spirit of the grebo era, whatever the hell it was.

Milk The Badger is now available on CD and digitally via Bandcamp