Xposed 4Heads

Choose To Be Human

ME Records/Internal Combustion, 2015

From Milwaukee comes the Xposed 4Heads, a band that’s been doing their own spin on quirky songs since the 1980’s. And could you really ever expect them to actually stop? As is now well documented by the Interwebs of all things, the world is filled with the sort of peoples who favor the odd over mainstream fare, and this group of mild mannered malcontents are as uniquely subversive as any would be rebel with a wailing Marshall amp, angrily giving the camera the finger while enjoying the perks of a corporate sponsor.

Would they have fared any better commercially if they had made a calculated move to NYC or LA along with other like minded artists? Hard to say, but being a steady oddity mainstay of a sizable second city is no small feat either.

This is a keyboard driven CD with heart and soul firmly planted in 1986, and wry observations on the state of the contemporary human condition, the terminally electronically distracted.

Title track “Choose to be Human” chuffs along at a steady clip. Feeling like Thomas Dolby has developed a really wicked sense of humor. “Don’t Touch My Stuff” is a surf number who’s guitar riffing is washed over by swelling synths.

“Tell Me What to Do” explores the mindset of people who do better under the strict guidance of a motivated disciplinarian. “Generica” takes on how everything and everyone are increasingly becoming more and more alike. “Disconnected” has some unexpected John Zorn type horn squalls.

The pacing on the disc is laudable. With a nominal amount of quiet in between tracks, it moves at a brisk pace, keeping the listener fr0m being distracted by silence.

“Hot Aliens” is surprising for a lot of reasons. It’s an actual dance track, clocking in at 8 minutes, and musically the band explores different colors from their audio palette. There are some goofy strains of Styx, (Come Sail Away,) dark electronica like New Order, and cheesy sci-fi inspiration, Mars Needs Women and/or Earth Girls are Easy. Love it or loathe this, if you put it on at a party everyone will notice.

This five piece outfit has been strange and determined for several decades now. With the dogged persistence of people refusing to find another lifestyle distraction, they couldn’t really quit, even if they wanted to. Xposed 4Heads sound a lot like Weird Al parodying Devo for the soundtrack of a new John Waters movie. Funnymen have always been given greater latitude in delivering honest appraisals of life so long as they do so with wit. We need people who fearlessly refuse to be anything other than themselves,.

The Xposed 4 Heads couldn’t blend in with the masses even if they tried.