There’s something frustratingly tantalizing about Windowhead‘s new EP “Terrestrials.” The Brighton quartet has spent years marinating in the sonic stew of post-hardcore aggression and shoegaze texturalism, and now they’re serving up something that tastes almost right, but leaves you wondering about the missing ingredient.
“Ex-Terrestrial” kicks things off with a savvy bit of wordplay – billionaire space cowboys as aliens abandoning the rest of us mere earthlings. The band lurches between gut-punch low-end and skyward-reaching atmospherics, though I couldn’t shake the feeling that the recording itself lacks the weight I suspect the band convey in a room together.
By the time “Cat Insulin” rolls around (points for pharmaceutical whimsy in song titles), Windowhead’s live show woodshedding reveals itself. You can practically smell the sweaty practice room where they’ve been hammering these rhythmic switchbacks into submission. The soaring vocal harmonies work brilliantly – whispers giving way to throat-shredding urgency that makes me want to check tour dates for when I’m next in the UK later this year.
Lead single “Todd, Honey” is the undeniable high point. Here, finally, everything clicks – there’s a coherence to the song’s movements from gossamer guitar textures to seismic rhythmic assaults that feels natural rather than calculated.
The audaciously titled closer “I Had To Reach Out And Grab It Before It Disappeared Forever” showcases a band unafraid of ambition. The multi-movement piece flirts with their post-rock roots while incorporating their newer, harder-edged sensibilities. Yet even as the track reaches for transcendence, the recording itself seems to hold back, like watching fireworks through fog.
What gnaws at me throughout “Terrestrials” is the nagging sense that these songs probably detonate live in ways the recording just doesn’t quite capture. The compositions themselves are genuinely compelling – all angles and curves and unexpected pivots – but the production leaves everything feeling slightly distant.
Windowhead have clearly outgrown their earlier sonic identity and are pushing toward something more vital and immediate. With a producer who can properly capture the heft and dimension these compositions deserve, I suspect their next offering might be something truly special. For now, they remain an intriguing conversation I’m keen to continue, preferably in a venue with decent acoustics and overpriced beer.
FFO Thrice, Glassjaw, Deftones
Terrestrials is released on 28th March 2025
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