Exhume
More Than Ever
Parade
Half-thought
Extramundane
Forgetting
Lepidoptera
Psychosomatica
The Present

SELECTED REVIEWS:
Restraint. Intelligence. Control. On their third full length album Bedhead continue to work like minimalist sculptors of sound. Their style is often sparse (particularly considering the three-guitar line-up) but it's effect is monumental. On this release, Bedhead do not pull any fancy new tricks out of their bag, rather, they do what is far more rare and cherished these days -- continue to fulfill their promise. And, for a band that has been lauded by Dean Wareham, Steve Albini, Bob Mould and King Coffey (their record label-lord), that is no small feat.

Transaction de Novo begins, rather symbolically, with a song entitled "Exhume". If Bedhead has, in the past, buried itself in layers of undulating guitars, on this album, they unearth themselves. On the new songs, they have found melodies even more simple and, for the first time, sing lyrics crystal clear. And, although Bedhead seem to have been majorly influenced by the Velvet Underground, Matt and Bubba Kadane (the songwriting team behind the band) have always admired Joy Division and New Order most of all. For the first time since they covered Joy Division's "Disorder" (on the "4-song EP"), the brothers Kadane give in to the sounds which have secretly inspired them on the wonderful "Psychosomatica" perhaps the most pop Bedhead song to date.

- Raygun, 2/98

Up until now, Bedhead records have always moved like shadows cast by a full moon. The songs contained on the band's earlier albums and EPs came on like a dream and stuck with you like a memory, building from nighttime whispers to nightmare moans, revealing everything in the silences. Even with three guitars--provided by Tench Coxe and songwriting brothers Matt and Bubba Kadane--Bedhead's songs were elegiac, proof that you could still turn it down to turn it out. Transaction de Novo, recorded by Steve Albini, offers more beautiful melodies and perfect moments created by men who carve beauty out of rock and roll's most primitive tools. It opens almost as though it's ending, "Exhume" fading in from a distance until it crawls under your skin; those who would describe Bedhead as "languid" fail to realize the power of a slow build. And that's what Bedhead, which also features Kris Wheat on bass and Trini Martinez on drums, is all about--every little climax leading to a bigger, more satisfying one at the finish. If Transaction de Novo follows its precursors' leads, it also one-ups the blueprint by providing two exhilarating moments--"Extramundane" in the middle, with its vertiginous tempo, and "Psychosomatica" near the end, perhaps the catchiest, most rock song Bedhead has ever recorded. The latter leads right into a haunting, thrilling finale titled "The Present" that ends so unexpectedly you still hear the record even when it has stopped playing.

- Option, 2/98

Back to Albums