GITHEAD
Headgit (Swim)
Reviewed by Sherman Wick

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Githead is the latest project from Colin Newman of Wire. And since his original band, Wire, is more off than on, he has another group to which to lend his immense talents. Here the sound tends towards the guitar/pop realm. Githead is guitarist and singer Newman, guitarist Robin Rimbaud, bassist Malka Spigel and drummer, The Beat Monster. The group collaborates on all six tracks on this EP length CD. It is a significant departure from Wire, where the entire group rarely shares writing credits.

Every project Newman is involved in is constantly evolving, and that's a good m.o. Give him credit, for unlike many of his contemporaries, he refuses to beat a dead horse and musically repeat himself. Githead's sound is not that different from Wire's recent Send record, but without the hyper-charged tempos of recent records as Newman revisited his late '70s English punk roots. Tracks are largely mid tempo with rich guitar pop arrangements; the opening instrumental "Reset" sets the tone for the rest of the EP. The music is tightly structured and crisply recorded as the bass and drums dovetail next to the building guitars. "Fake Corpses" allows Newman to gripe about the phoniness of today, while backed by a poppy two-guitar attack and a killer hook.

The tracks on the EP are consistently musically alluring, but not on par with Wire. Githead is currently in the process of recording a full-length record that it plans to release next year.

© 2005 - Sherman Wick