Album Review: Mr. Cancelled’s “Pieces of Head”

SARATOGA SPRINGS – The latest in Mr. Cancelled’s catalogue, Pieces of Head, sees a return of the band over an eight-song screamer of a punk-rock record. Mixing tons of the genre’s renowned qualities – distortion, high energy, bass-driven, and much, much more – Pieces of Head leaves little room for listeners in terms of not knowing what the rest of the record may sound like.

Extremely visceral and fuzzed-beyond-belief bass guitar starts this record off in a ripping way. Put simply, if this song ever comes on to those that don’t know of it, it’d be hard as hell to ignore. With drums that hit as hard as the bass, and vocals that are spastic and consistently screaming – sometimes sounding like John Lydon – it’s a kickass way to start the album.

Delivering their take on a Sinkcharmer tune, “Split The Difference,” Mr. Cancelled effectively puts their own twist on the number, punching it up with distorted bass and relentless drums. With an angrier sounding, and lower melody vocal, their version of “Split The Difference” has a renewed sense of life breathed into it. The band also takes this same, high-octane energy approach to other covers on the record: “I Can’t Be Alone” (Tiki Bats), and “Why Try?” (Ghoul Poon).

Moving along, four drum clicks drive the band face-first into track three, “Blood and Belts.” With each song being under 3 minutes long, Mr. Cancelled never takes long to develop the often anxiety-laden, and ever-so-prevalent climactic energy to their songs. “Blood and Belts” is assuredly no exception. Having the bass be the only thing that doesn’t drop out during the song’s midway point, though briefly, is a nice touch to the arrangement.

An extremely sarcastic tune, “Drunk Is…” follows with a lot more push-and-pull in its energy level than in other selections off this record. It isn’t long before a return-to-normal, however, with the following track, “My Hands Are Ghosts”. Both songs are wonderfully sardonic.

Impossible to lose sight of the distortion, “All All Over” is a punk-rocker that is uncompromisingly in-your-face from start-to-finish. Hiding behind nothing in their lyrics – not one single metaphor – Mr. Cancelled is unapologetically real, and that might be one of their biggest ‘selling points.’ I particularly enjoy the end of this tune, where they left some studio dialogue in the track.

From start to finish, Mr. Cancelled greets its listeners with blistering punk tunes bathed in gobs of distortion, unrelenting dynamics, and fuzz. Having all eight tracks be roughly in the same energy vein allows listeners to instantly get a feel for the record. Mixing the raw performances with vocal stylings that are time and time again authentic – what you hear is what you get – this album will surely excite those that like to sink their teeth into DIY-punk records. The inclusion of other bands’ original material is also a nice feature to the album. Check Mr. Cancelled’s record, Pieces of Head, out for yourself here.