The Head and the Heart are a Seattle six-piece who have recently had their self-titled debut released by Sub Pop. The group plays a kind of rootsy folk-rock music that recalls a bygone time in American history, with the main ingredients being Jon Russell and Josiah Johnson on vocals and guitars, violin by Charity Thielen and Kenny Hensley on piano.
This is an album that I struggled to enjoy and gain an emotional connection with. It simply just doesn’t add anything new to the contemporary folk landscape. While there are some interesting moments – with both “Ghosts” and “Sounds Like Hallelujah” being the obvious standouts, I just felt that the album as a whole was too safe and predictable. The melodies more often than not fall flat and, while occasionally the lyrics provide the songs with more character and tell interesting little narratives, I struggled to gain anything from them. Which isn’t to say that it is an offensive album, far from it. It just unfortunately lacks any degree of charm or personality.
I tried to have some fun with it and not automatically classify it as derivative, but this got more difficult to do after every listen. I just didn’t feel that it was genuine – this mightn’t be a problem if it wasn’t so obviously going for a heart-on-sleeve earnestness.
While I’m sure that there is a market for this (the original self-released version of this album sold more than ten thousand copies) it sounds far too timid, devoid of any surprises. The Head and the Heart are obviously a very polished band – thanks to all their touring prior to this Sub Pop release – and have obviously put a fair amount of effort into this collection of songs. Oddly though, they still sound disengaged with their craft and unsure of themselves throughout.
Wyatt Lawton-Masi
