Flip Top Head and the spiralling post rock jazz punk fusion of "Seventh Bell Number"

 

photo by katie foxley


Currently among the far right politicians in America there is a tendency either born out of a methodical plan of attack or out of real concern because they have been infected with the Christian Fascist gene (that is a real thing) to call out all types of art, including songs, as being Satanic. No really, that is a real thing right now as powerful people have been de-evolving into the pilgrim purists and looking for witches to burn. It is a sad state of affairs, truly, but for some reason when listening to the jagged shifty feel of "Seventh Bell Number" by the amazing orchestral seven piece outfit Flip Top Head out of Brighton (UK) I dwelled on this. Partially because the cultural wars in America has been feeling more real and partially because this song does sound rather dark, rather Satanic indeed (I kid).

From the very onset you can feel a cagey tension that is both fun and makes your head start to spin like your drug of choice is starting to kick in. 

"with the swank of a hypocrite
he hands over his eyes
he relieves the lies
she’s summoned inside

but i don’t confess
i don’t confess
i don’t confess"

When the song starts to spiral our of control with wonderful wonky repeated sonic slaps and drums going off like fireworks about to set fire to the curtains there is a sense of feral jazz coming in, of Cab Calloway's band going punk in an alternate universe, the Cotton Club in Hell. There are dramatic shifts with guitar dissonance, quieter moments, forays into avant post rock. 

"there’s only so much collar of a jacket to inhale
only so many times to say a word and induce complete enticing blissful
blackmail"

AND steely eyed sonic explosions too.

"give him back his eyes
give him back his eyes
give him back my eyes"

At one point, don't ask me specifically, I thought of the punk shapes of Sublime which contextually is weird here. I think it is because Flip Top Head push / superbly blend so many genres at will, like post rock, baroque pop, punk, jazz fusion, art rock, dark Gothic rock and more.

Press notey stuff share:

[‘Seventh Bell Number’ is the Brighton collective’s debut single, out on 14th February on Blitzcat Records. Opening with an absurdist two-tone swagger, complete with crashes of brass, a shoegaze headiness persists in Flip Top Head’s orchestral message. The dementing caress of vocalist Bowie Bartlett's lyrics verse on inner turbulence, culpability and frustration over romantic confessions that can never be realized.]

Bowie Bartlett, what a name, what a fucking killer vocal countenance. 

-Robb Donker Curtius

Flip Top Head · Seventh Bell Number

THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM 

https://www.facebook.com/flipt0phead

https://twitter.com/flipt0phead

https://open.spotify.com/artist/3wvfYm6zG9B5o7eGY5zcLu

https://www.instagram.com/flipt0phead/


Introducing the bewitching melancholy of Flip Top Head - the seven piece are laying down a marker on the alternative scene for effortlessly transitioning scintillating jazz tones and haunting vocals into an emphatic post-rock soundscape.

It’s in a galvanic Brighton live scene that Flip Top Head have flourished, seeing them share stages with the likes of Honeyglaze, Malady and China Bears. To coincide with ‘Seventh Bell Number’, the group set off on an eight-date UK tour, including a mouthwatering first night with Opus Kink and DEADLETTER. The song releases at the tour’s climax, on either side of a headline Windmill show with Porchlight and Mary & The Junkyard - finishing with a big homecoming at the Pipeline in Brighton.

Flip Top Head, post rock, baroque pop, punk, jazz fusion, art rock, dark Gothic rock, "Seventh Bell Number", jammy, progressive, sonic mazes, Brighton England,