By now, just about everyone knows what to expect from a Narrow Head record. Their brief career has already cemented them as one of today’s foremost 90s Revivalists, so even though Moments of Clarity is only their third full length, their reputation has lent it plenty of hype for those who lust for big extended-chord electric guitar riffs, big booming drums, and laid back vocals singing hooks that belie the often-noisy heaviness of the instruments.
It’s no surprise that Moments of Clarity delivers those in spades. What might be surprising though is just how fresh they sound with a sonic toolbox that harkens back nearly four decades.
It’s become an increasingly popular opinion that the 90s were the greatest musical decade of all time. Between grunge, shoegaze, emo, alt rock, hip hop, metalcore, Britpop, nu metal, and the massive explosion of noisy punk bands signed to major labels trying to find the next Nirvana, few decades come close to the sheer diversity of the decade. And when you consider the timelessness of both ubiquitous successes like Nirvana and the Smashing Pumpkins and hidden gems like HUM and Failure, it’s little wonder then that scads of bands today look to the pet sounds of that decade as a guiding light.
You could organize a pretty hefty festival lineup with just these bands. But even in such a crowded field, Narrow Head manages to stand out. They might be painting with a pretty standard palette of colors, but they’re able to mix them in inventive ways, buzzsaw guitars churning through choice chromatics and borrowed chords in lush blankets of deliciously crushing noise.
I’ll be honest and say that after the lush daydream of Satisfaction, their sophomore record 12th House Rock left a bit to be desired. It was a fine enough record, but it didn’t grab me quite as much. Moments of Clarity though feels like a triumph. Tracks like “Breakup Song” and “The World,” with its wailing fuzz synth lead line, are at once noisy and charming. There’s a heavier side here too though. “Trepanation,” named for the ancient practice of drilling into the skull to release building pressure, approaches sludge metal acts like Spotlights. “Gearhead” is built on a riff that’s one battle vest away from being a hardcore song and even has a couple lines of screamed vocals, which are even more present on “Flesh & Solitude” immediately after. Closer “Soft to Touch” runs the drums through a hefty array of effects plugins, offering one of the best Adore-era Smashing Pumpkins tributes we’ve had in years. But somehow, it all feels cohesive, and even the heaviest moments don’t feel too out of place with the more slacker rock tracks.
By the end of Moments of Clarity, it’s clear that Narrow Head is sure than ever in their own particular voice—and I don’t just mean the precise combination of effects pedals or the ratio of loud parts to quiet parts. Rather, they have a clearer idea of their identity as songwriters and composers than ever before. And in a scene filled with paint-by-numbers copycats recycling riffs from The Smashing Pumpkins or Nirvana, that’s a rare quality.
Moments of Clarity is out February 10 through Run For Cover Records.
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