dpwolf/blog

Faxed Head & Critical Animals

It has been deathly quiet around dpwolf/blog land lately so I thought I'd bring some deathly noise.

Faxed Head are an extreme / death / black / noise / metal band from Coalinga USA with an excellent (very dark) sense of humor. See their bio on the site for their complete mythology and read how the members' group suicide pact went horribly wrong leaving Mc Patrick Head confined to a wheelchair and permanently covered in plaid, Neck Head with no head at all and LaBreya Tar Pits Head with his face covered in tar.

The site also features mp3s and some video of their 1997 tour of Australia. I remember seeing them on Channel 31 way back then, hilarious ;-) Their most recent album features a 're-imagining' of the 2pac/Dr Dre classic California Love as Coalinga Love. It looks like their site hasn't been updated in a couple of years (maintained by ASCII Head!) so I wonder if they are still around.

Listening to Faxed Head also reminds me of Michelle Phillipov's presentation at Critical Animals in Newcastle: 'Septic vomit of chyme': Death metal vocality and the disavowal of identification.

"Rock's "authenticity" has long been predicated on its ability to "represent" the everyday lives of its audience, with the singing voice functioning as the primary identificatory locus of listening. Michelle Phillipov explores how death metal troubles this literal reading of the power of rock and voice."

While I missed most of the actual paper, I caught the discussion which followed in a room full of lively metal enthusiasts. Christy Dena has posted a a full rundown of the Critical Animals Papers (including my presentaion) at the ANU underthesun collaborative weblog.