Head North
The Last Living Man Alive Ever In The History of the World
On the heels of 2014’s Bloodlines EP, Buffalo, NY natives, Head North, return with a debut LP that is making waves in the indie rock world and amongst digital music outlets.
The Last Living Man Alive Ever In The History of the World is a concept record that circles around a vision of an “alternate world where God and love are forbidden.” For a debut, a concept record is pretty exceptional.
The four-piece, comprised of Brent Martone (vocals/guitar), Alex Matos (bass), Ryan Harris (guitar), and Ben Lieber (drums), have been working on the record since last summer, and even took a break to revitalize their creative juices and finished it up.
Head North understands how to draw a listener in and that shows with the opening track, “Sort of Medicine.” The song begins with dreamy keys welcoming the listener into the 15-song set. Then Martone begins the epic narrative of the record’s concept. His raspy, yet gentle, melancholy voice fits perfectly within the band’s collective sound between elegant indie pop and heavier indie pop/rock.
Upon listening to this record, I found it to be one of the most difficult reviews because it’s such a massive, epic narrative. The content and the story is deep, worthy of contemplation, and pondering life. The record, like any other album, took hard work to create. It’s a record that you must listen to in multiple spins.
Songs like “By Presidential Decree” showcase the band’s solid ability to deliver well-crafted indie pop rock, while the band changes gears on “The First One” with its honest lyrics about life. Martone sings “give up/tomorrow won’t last/it’s as far as forever/and it’s fading fast…” while on “Pulse”, the four-piece delivers a raw and rhythmic performance of pulsing beats, rhythmic drum and bass, heavy guitars.
This record is full of spoken word segments, arena rock, honest lyrics, tight arrangements, and it’s an incredibly well-crafted, well thought out debut record. It’s a lot to take in – in a single listen – you must listen to this record over and over and you’ll grasp different concepts over time.
I think this was a difficult review because the record is so multi-layered, multi-dimensional, and conceptual and does not have a single or even a few themes. It’s built of deep emotion, layers of various musical arrangements, and mature lyricism. The album makes you feel, think, and feel all over again – exactly what music is suppose to do to the listener. The Last Living Man… and Head North are definitely on the verge of something spectacular.
Rating: Bad-Ass
