The Queen’s Head - Haunt EP Review
On their debut EP, The Queen’s Head give the best of London’s post-punk scene a run for their money.
The audience is made up of two demographics; the swayers and the movers. Those whose movements remain small and consistent, and those who will wake up the next day with sore joints and mild whiplash. It is easier for some to let go of themselves in that type of setting. And yet, despite your anxieties and potentially sober system, The Queen’s Head debut EP acts as an invite to become a part of the latter, an audience full of unguarded movement.
Driven by synth sounds, commanding dual vocals and funk inspired instrumentation, the band establishes their eccentric sound right from the start in the opening track ‘Tonight I Saved A Life’. In this fictional pub setting, we are met with disparate claims from a seemingly honest yet cocksure narrator, hailing our attention away from the mise en scene of a British pub and to his words instead, pushed forward by a funk lead guitar performance. And if the new, amalgamated sound causes you any confusion, your answer is simply that yes, it is ‘music that you are dancing to’.
The transience of ‘Til Death Do Us Part’ is created by synthetic layers and complimentary drumming that punctuates the melody. A sudden shift in tone that I can only describe as what I’d imagine an alien invasion would sound like, to then take us back to earth with the continuation of the track’s initial journey and return to the sticky dancefloor. It is evident that this band have the ability to world build within their sonics and with this being the start of their musical endeavours, you can only anticipate the progression of an already assured sound to more embellished and fictional settings.
A point of strength within this EP is the poetics delivered in multiple modes of tone, reminiscent of the poetry of Ginsberg. Both vocal performances offer a playfulness that heightens the existing, enjoyable, groovy melodics. Vocoder, impassioned pleas for retro dances, distortion, there are no restrictions for what both vocalists will do to make the most of their instruments.
The final track being a highlight of the EP, ‘Disco For One’ is a perfect, complete ending that resulted in an instant looping of the EP from the start. Its electronic opening with a drum beat reminiscent of electronic insects and estranged vocals bring us to an unknown territory before the return of our narrator and driving synths. Exploring an otherworldliness in the whirlwind of collapsing vocals and pleading drums, this track is an admittance of loneliness, wanting for a sense of togetherness, begging to let someone in. With rhyme not being common within the lyricism of this particular song, its sparse and sudden arrivals are satisfying moments that further builds on the appreciation of craftsmanship within the curation of the words.
A strong, confident project defining their part Post Punk, part Disco sound, ‘Haunt EP’ will not be washed away in the cesspit of post Brexit punk London. This is music that creates an immediate response within yourself to move along with whatever clusterfuck of a beat they have to offer. Music that you give yourself to and for those minutes, you are not thinking ‘ I just know stupid I look, I look like an idiot squirming right now’ and let the music come over your body like a sixth sense. An ode to good times amongst unprecedented ones, what you will find within this strong four single EP is music of that very exact nature.