SEVERED HEADS Vinilo y CD

Review: Ahead of two albums worth of Severed Heads reissues on the excellent Medical Records, their West Coast compadres Dark Entries present a 12" edition of what is perhaps the band's most iconic track. One of three records due this month to celebrate Dark Entries fifth anniversary, this 12" is themed around "Dead Eyes Opened", perhaps Severed Heads' most iconic track and presented here in extended 12" mix version. Anyone with a passing interest in primitive electronics should be more than familiar with "Dead Eyes Opened" which sounds remarkably ahead of it's time even today. Both the B Side tracks from the original 1984 pressing make the cut too and Dark Entries have done a wonderful job in replicating the artwork too.

Review: Optimo Trax 015 sees label boss JD Twitch indulge his love of cult Australian DIY act Severed Heads with a trio of dub version culled from the B-sides of their 1980s 12" output. Titled quite artfully Big Saints Reward (1987 - 90 dubs), perennial Twitch favourite "Greater Reward" features prominently with the Dub version accompanied by an all new "Piano Power Edit" from the Optimo man which takes full advantage of the glorious keys that characterise the track. Complementing these, the B-side houses "Big Car (Crash dub)" and "All Saints Day (Saints Dub Day)" which add further credence to the notion Severed Heads are one of the most important acts in the formation of club music as we know it today. A superb record!

Review: Aside from the wide spectrum of gorgeous post-punk and italo material that Dark Entries have been reissuing as of late, they've been earning some serious points from our end for their revival of so much material from Australia's Severed Heads. While the band are up there as one of our favorites from the 1980's, Dark Entries have picked exactly the right 12"s to reissue; "Lamborghini" is incredibly contemporary in sound, and it's subtle 4/4 kick allows its mild melodies and odd acoustics to fit above pretty much any house tune today. The same goes for "Petrol", a mild-tempered dance tune with minimal background vocals and a whole load of filter-attack quality. So recommended...