Review Summary: WhatFunThatReviewWas
Prologue: Something bizarre is going to happen.
When doing research for this, I visited Wikipedia, which said something among the lines of ‘Sputnik gave WhatFunLifeWas a 4/5’, referencing a now defunct review page as a source. We all know this happens sometimes, yet statements like these always raise questions. What was that review all about? It apparently included these sentences: “Sputnik Music -sic- stated that the album's themes touch on loss and depression, "but with a sense of the profound. WhatFunLifeWas is a modest album; slow indie rock with a hint of the epic, that draws upon its broodiness to create a serenely personal atmosphere."”. Would such a sentiment still hold up today? I am curious whether I agree with ‘Cooper, Kane’ and their mysteriously lost August 7, 2009 review.
What was once so real
Now doesn't even exist
And now the memories are going
So just the feelings persist
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Apparently, Bedhead have built quite the reputation. Their debut, WhatFunLifeWas, is seen as one of the defining Indie moments of the 1990s. Falling somewhere between the angular guitar riffs of Slint, the Pygmalion-era post-rock of Slowdive and the soft, mumbled vocals of Talk Talk, their sound is indeed very 90s. Yet I think a case could be made for their influence reaching a lot further than this illustrious decade, for instance reaching to The American Analog Set, the genre slowcore as a whole, and even all the way to The XX. WhatFunLifeWas currently ranks #160 of 1994. On top of that, influential sputnikmusic.com user Pheromone dubbed Powder as “one of the greatest songs of all time”.
I think many of these accolades are due to the band’s three (!) gifted guitarists. They go from twinkly, melancholic cleans to melancholic wall-of-sound, occasionally with some melancholic distortion. Combine this with the slow, brooding bass work and beautifully subdued and precise drumming, and you have a winning formula. There often is a sense of tranquil awe here. Most songs start out small, but they usually grow into something big and stately towards the end. While the album certainly is theatrical at times, the band constantly keeps their climaxes manageable. This is a record for bedroom listening after all.
The production on WhatFunLifeWas deserves praise as well. The guitars occupy a space of their own, while the bass and drums are placed on a different pane of existence. This division, with the whispered vocals floating somewhere in between, creates a lovely sense of space and dynamism that lends weight to each instrument. It helps to create the illusion that we as listeners are floating somewhere in a warm yet gloomy space.
It all makes for a very melancholic album. The lyrics, too, are on the sad side of things. Often gloomy, sometimes bleak, and always unhappy, it is undisputable that ‘the protagonist’ of this album might have a day or two each week where they do not want to leave their bed. Yet for all of its brooding melancholy, the record constantly feels genuine. This is not a scream for attention. Put to record here are a sad person’s thoughts, to be listened to from the warm, comforting softness of your bed. And for that end, it is probably as effective today as it was 30 years ago.
To be crushed is not to be
Hit and then left to recover
It's to be left untouched
Unable to pass from one place to another
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Epilogue: Completion
Cooper, Kane shifted in their chair. A moment before, they were quietly sipping a glass of icy cold peach and lemon flavoured bubble tea, enjoying the warm rays of the sun with Bedhead’s debut softly playing from the opened windows. But now, everything felt different. Something clicked, a feeling of an empty void being filled. Cooper, Kane wasn’t even aware of this void until this undefined something suddenly locked into place. They sat there, quietly, doing nothing for one moment. Then, shrugging off this otherworldly feeling, the ice cubes tinkled against the glass as Cooper, Kane took another sip.
I hang my hands and feet over the sides
And go into the space of what can never be known
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You can(’t) find the no-longer-there ghost review here: https://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/31770/Bedhead-WhatFunLifeWas/
