Flip Top Head and the intricately surreal, magnetic abstractions of "Intro 98"

 

"And then I woke up and there was a ladder / And then I woke up and there was a ladder / and screaming joe was outside with bunnies held up by their ears / and i had no idea what was going on..."

From the very onset, the cagey, bizarrely compelling "Intro 98" by Brighton seven-piece art rock / blendo indie outfit Flip Top Head throws you in a sonic multi-verse. If it were a movie it might be directed by the likes of a Michel Gondry and written by the likes of a Charlie Kaufman and feel like ID on high, or a hallucinogenic trip turned inside out. I love the runaway sonics, the tightly wound musicality that feels like being in a shopping cart and pushed down a hill. That feeling of exhilaration while utterly terrified of the littlest, slightest thing like a stoic pebble. 

LINER NOTES (bracketed):

[Celebrating their debut EU tour dates, Brighton seven-piece Flip Top Head usher in 2024 with a haunting double release 'Intro 98 / 1st July 2006' - out 31st January via cult London label Blitzcat Records (C Turtle, PLAY DEAD, Kyoto Kyoto).]

[Encompassing cascading post-rock headiness, frolicking indie-folk and waltzing lyrical dramas, this latest set of releases confirms Flip Top Head’s self-styled brand of ‘Orchestral Cult Rock’ as equal parts diverse and compelling; a musical phantasm where mystery, disjointedness, power and fragility collide with the motions of sliding trombones, cavernous soundscapes and compelling spoken word.]

Anyway, Flip Top Head is the kind of band I would have loved to be in back when I was in bands. The things they create feel fun, life affirming to play and rewarding to have created either solely or even tangentially. In many ways, these creations don't even sound like songs really but performance art. For whatever reason (and I fully want the option to change my mind later, ha) I feel an amalgam of Los Campesinos!, Radiohead, and Tropical Fuck Storm. 

Smiling.

Flip Top Head are: Bowie Bartlett (vocals, guitar), Bertie Beer (vocals, guitar), Marie Freiss (bass), Alfie Beer (trombone, guitar), Harrison Spooner (guitar), Ollie White (synth, guitar, vocal effects), Harry Giles (drums)

!Diddy-yap-yap-yow!
Quick digest, new scene
I walk around and try and find someone like me
Quick digest, new scene
I walk around and try and find someone like me
News digest, new scene
Could I take the hand of a man and fall down at my knees?
And if seeing my face,
In a million
Magazines wasn’t enough
Well I’m still burdened
(Find out)

-Robb Donker Curtius

THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM 

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

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

https://www.facebook.com/flipt0phead

https://twitter.com/flipt0phead

https://fliptophead.bandcamp.com/

https://www.youtube.com/@flipt0phead/

Beginning as a college trio in Colchester before relocating to Brighton in the Autumn of 2020 and recruiting members from as far and wide as Hastings and Switzerland, the band signed to Blitzcat Records and released debut single 'Seventh Bell Number' in February 2023 to acclaim from the likes of BBC 6 Music (New Music Fix), Still Listening, Rodeo, Hard of Hearing, Wax and The Indie Scene. Its follow-up ‘Alfred Street’ gained backing from Loud & Quiet and So Young, ushering a London showcase performance with Folly Group, a sold-out Brighton headline at The Prince Albert (supported by The New Eves and Van Zon), and the announcement of debut EU tour dates.

Still in their formative stages, the band can already boast support slots for the likes of DEADLETTER, Opus Kink, Honeyglaze, Mandrake Handshake and Ellis-D, as well as notable festival slots at The Great Escape, Brighten The Corners, Mutations and Sŵn. This latest release accompanies the prospect of further material to come later in 2024.

Flip Top Head, post rock, indie rock, art rock, blendo rock, hybrid rock, art punk, "Intro 98", college trio in Colchester, Brighton 7 piece, Bowie Bartlett (vocals, guitar), Bertie Beer (vocals, guitar),