Jowe Head on Topplers Records

Jowe Head

Jowe Head's back catalogue is impressive, but his solo work is his best by far! Topplers Records has 4 CD releases by Jowe...

Jowe Head was a founding member of Swell Maps along with Nikki Sudden and Phones Sportsman. When the Maps split in 1981 he went on to play with the Television Personalities. Since then he has never been idle playing with a huge range of idiosyncratic bands and releasing some amazing records.
Jowe is also a very talented artist and printmaker so all of his releases on Topplers have covers he designed or painted himself.

Jowe Head from a parallel universe

Jowe Head - From a Parallel Universe

Jowe Head's first solo record on Topplers is a tour-de-force!
It contains some of his finest songs and includes his reworking of the Swell Maps "Cake Shop Girl" which was released on 7" by the Cake Sop in New York City.
The album has an exotic feel with Jowe experimenting with balalaika, thumb piano, talking drums and toy pianos to create a swirling soundscape over his solid rhythms.

This album finds him revisiting 'Cake Shop Girl' from his Swell Maps days and contains some of his best songs and a couple of unusual cover versions! 'Jack in the Green' is a pulsating rocker, 'Neither Fish nor Fowl' is a freaky psychedelic trip, Serbsville and Merman are trippy instrumentals. 10 tracks in all - every one a gem!

Olive's Hairy Custard
1990's avant-pop guitar mangling!

This is a forgotten treasure of an album released for the first time in its entireity. A 7" single by the band and a track on a compilation LP was all that ever appeared from these recordings in the nineties. Now you can hear the full album in all it's glory, and what an album it is! Jowe and his band mates have written a fantastic collection of songs which they play with gusto. The guitar playing alone is worth the price of admission! The wonderfully named Les Miserable and Garlon Hairmungous (both from Australia) both share guitar and vocal with Jowe and the rock solid drumming is provided by Elliot P Smoke once of Thrilled Skinny and now in The Knockouts.

There are 12 tracks on this album which comes wrapped in a great big fold out sleeve with some very strange photos of the band in action!!!

If you like custard you'll love this album!

ANGEL RACING FOOD - ARF

Jowe Head teams up with Lee McFadden from ATV

A tour-de-force from Jowe and the band. This album is chock full of Jowe's unique brand of twisted pop, delivered in his distinctive baritone. Contains the classic "Venus Bigfoot" single which sounds as though Adam and the Ants are janning with the Fall and should have propelled Jowe into international stardom!

This is a consistently inventive collection of songs and the band is on top form throughout the album.

Highlights include the aforementioned Venus Bigfoot, the sultry psychedelica of Butcher Shop Lassie, the black humour of Dead Man's Shoes, in fact they are all highlights! 11 tracks in all plus a full A3 sized poster of Jowe's cover painting is included with the CD.

Angel racing Food ARF