Fire Heads / Sex Scene - Split - New LP

This split LP from 2020, Fire Heads having elements of other bands where you'll find these Wisconsin maniacs (Hussy, Proud Parents, Dumb Vision, ETC.), but Fire Heads is its own animal, ripping at the songs like a half starving rabid canine that finally found some roadkill, some pissed off kid helping out by pulverizing the meat with a mallet, Sex Scenes continuing the menacing story on the flipside as the pummel continues, black-magic creature-feature macabre coming at you like a fire and brimstone preacher warning you that the heavy gates of hell have swung open with a long creak and a heavy bang, a pissed off creature on crank stomping up and down on the spring loaded platform behind him, heavy as metal, HC driven into punk rock n roll, Fire Heads saying "Motorhead thrash meets Coachwhips stomp" and maybe that could go with both these Wisconsin outfits, sounding like the rust-belt factory-rat part of that state, the two bands fitting together like gears in a punch press. Premium shit.   -- winch (green noise records)

Sex Scenes singer Zach Otto sez "‘Old Ones’ harkens back to a time of Lovecraftian monsters and unknown horrors. Underneath the surface it’s a coming to terms with understanding the worst monsters are in the mirror."

"Sex Scenes make ugly music. Not so much in the literal sense — although, yes, sometimes in the literal sense — but in a thematic one. Singer Zach Otto writes unflinchingly about personal shortcomings and toxic character flaws, and the toll of leading a selfish life. He’s an absolutely rabid presence. If Stephen King’s Cujo fronted a band, it might sound something like this. And while the band (which includes Harrison Colby, Connor LaMue and Gregg Twigg) plays this music for thrills — every song is short, fast and ripping — they never romanticize its subject matter. Otto’s brutish growl only emphasizes how grotesque the sentiments driving these songs are. The result is a pointed inversion of punk’s rebel tropes, a takedown of the id-driven mindset that rock ‘n’ roll has historically glorified. For every badass raising hell, Otto’s lyrics remind us, there’s some poor soul on the receiving end of it. Sex Scenes’ new album invites listeners to laugh at humanity’s worst instincts, and maybe even identify with them a little. But it refuses to condone them. "