Logo
DiS Needs You: Save our site »
  • Logo_home2
  • Records
  • In Depth
  • In Photos
  • Blog
  • Podcast
  • Search
  • Community
  • Records
  • In Depth
  • Blog
  • Community

THIS SITE HAS BEEN ARCHIVED AND CLOSED.

Please join the conversation over on our new forums »

If you really want to read this, try using The Internet Archive.

Hefner

The Hefner Brain

Label: Too Pure Release Date: 04/03/2002

n_jones by Neil Jones March 9th, 2002

Turning away suggestions that they should release quaint album track 'Half A Life' accompanied by a tattoo-filled video suitable for the MTV2 generation like they were offerings of buckets of dry paint, alternative indie heroes Hefner instead bring out 'The Hefner Brain'.

Shunning again what could be an inevitable limelight, and also keeping up what seems to be an ardent and wilful vendetta against their former love the guitar, it features a re-working of another album stomper, 'When The Angels Play Their Drum Machines', in which the angels seem to have deftly added bleepy popping bits to their reportoire, as its lead track.

That is all well and good, but the real highlight here, among slightly lesser gems like sweet piano eulogy 'All I Ever Need', the sparklingly tranquil 'Baggage Reclaim Song' and the trademark, almost uproariously sorrowful 'Can't Help Losing You', is track two: the sleazily sublime 'Dark Hearted Discos'. Set to a spiraling disco beat, and made after they had each ate twenty-five giant glitter balls, it could have re-assured Nietzsche at any of his highest points of latter life madness and despair that there was still something for him to live for, whilst simultaneously inspiring him to spin, twirl and pirouette like Torvil and Dean before taking up a new career as a late nineteenth century Micheal Jackson.

A truly excellent supplement to last year's splendid 'Dead Media' album from the new pasty cats of Electronica.

  • 10
    Neil Jones's Score
Log-in to rate this record out of 10
Share on
   
Love DiS? Become a Patron of the site here »


LATEST


  • Why Music Journalism Matters in 2024


  • Drowned in Sound is back!


  • Drowned in Sound's 21 Favourite Albums of the Year: 2020


  • Drowned in Sound to return as a weekly newsletter


  • Lykke Li's Sadness Is A Blessing


  • Glastonbury 2019 preview playlist + ten alternative must sees



Left-arrow

'A'

Hi-Fi Serious

Mobback
1419

The Vines at Camden Electric Ballroom, Camden, Thu 19 Feb

Mobforward
Right-arrow


LATEST

    news


    Why Music Journalism Matters in 2024

  • 106145
  • news


    Drowned in Sound is back!

  • 106143

    news


    Drowned in Sound's 21 Favourite Albums of the Y...

  • 106141
  • news


    Drowned in Sound to return as a weekly newsletter

  • 106139

    Playlist


    Lykke Li's Sadness Is A Blessing

  • 106138
  • Festival Preview


    Glastonbury 2019 preview playlist + ten alterna...

  • 106137

    Interview


    A Different Kind Of Weird: dEUS on The Ideal Crash

  • 106136
  • Festival Review


    Way Out East: DiS Does Sharpe Festival 2019

  • 106135
MORE


    news


    The Neptune Music Prize 2016 - Vote Now

  • 103918
  • Takeover


    The Winner Takes It All

  • 50972

    Takeover


    10 Things To Not Expect Your Record Producer To...

  • 93724
  • review


    The Mars Volta - Deloused In The Comatorium

  • 4317

    review


    Sonic Youth - Nurse

  • 6044
  • feature


    New Emo Goth Danger? My Chemical Romance confro...

  • 89578

    feature


    DiS meets Justice

  • 27270
  • news


    Our Independent music filled alternative to New...

  • 104374
MORE

Drowned in Sound
  • DROWNED IN SOUND
  • HOME
  • SITE MAP
  • NEWS
  • IN DEPTH
  • IN PHOTOS
  • RECORDS
  • RECOMMENDED RECORDS
  • ALBUMS OF THE YEAR
  • FESTIVAL COVERAGE
  • COMMUNITY
  • MUSIC FORUM
  • SOCIAL BOARD
  • REPORT ERRORS
  • CONTACT US
  • JOIN OUR MAILING LIST
  • FOLLOW DiS
  • GOOGLE+
  • FACEBOOK
  • TWITTER
  • SHUFFLER
  • TUMBLR
  • YOUTUBE
  • RSS FEED
  • RSS EMAIL SUBSCRIBE
  • MISC
  • TERM OF USE
  • PRIVACY
  • ADVERTISING
  • OUR WIKIPEDIA
© 2000-2025 DROWNED IN SOUND