3 out of 5

Produced by: Brian Deck

Label: Perishable Records

Here’s a snippet of how Perishable Records described Drumhead: “…investigations in beat and noise.”  It’s pretty accurate.  A percussion, percussion and bass trio, DH – the group, the album – could do with some focus.  Opener Autobody is an aggressive rush of echoes and pummeling drums, Deck’s cavernous, live production sensibilities put to good use.  But that sound only very rarely appears again, and when it does, it’s in 1-2 minute snippets that barely have time to get going before they end.  Elsewhere, the album allows for some groovy drone, and some tracks that rope in reverb, and synths, and elements of jazz (which is where we might suspect Doug Scharin’s contribution comes in), it just never stops in one place long enough to let you find a rhythm.  When you do get a song that hangs around for 3 to 4 minutes, you can’t help but wish – despite the good intentions of the various ‘investigations’ – that Drumhead had decided to go deeper with any one investigation, as the skill to do right by it is definitely there.

I… could swear that closer ‘Grandpa’ was repurposed on the Frontier Perishable album, but I’m probably on music crack.