The Bed Heads' 'Dusk' Marks a Sunrise in Their Career
After a series of distinct shows in 2024, The Bed Heads put fans to bed, releasing their new EP ‘Dusk’.
Landon Spencer is delightfully quirky and talented. Whether fronting local college favorite “Spilt Milk”, or donning a seemingly unending quantity of shirts while covering a crowd pleaser for a social media bit, he just knows how to connect with your senses.
If you’re a stalwart supporter of the Spokane music scene pre-pandemic, The Bed Heads may appear as a bit of mystery to you. How did a band seemingly form in the fall of 2023 with a tight sound that harkens back to an era of roots rock out of nowhere start playing some of the best shows in Spokane? Where did they come from? Why does a single chorus pull you into humming along?
One thing is sure: Spencer has assembled a band that knows how to play and magnetize the air. AJ Ramirez on drums, Eric Kennedy and Drew Bereton split guitar duties, and Sam McQuarry on the low end is a recipe for success.
Up to now, dedicated Bed Heads fans have been stumped - why are their recordings and live show so stark in their contrast? Live they present My Morning Jacket-esque overdriven guitar and pumping drums coupled with the clever wordplay they’ve become known for. Their recorded music? Folky gnarled acoustic turnarounds evoking imagery of a front porch overlooking a lush valley with a wisp of smoke in the air. One thing is not like the other.
“Dusk” marks a unification of The Bed Head’s existing catalog with their live show - a first playthrough still captures the charm any dedicated ear has come to expect: hooky folk rock. The difference? This EP reveals what live show attendees have known for a year: The Bed Heads isn’t a solo project, it’s a well-constructed band, and they’re now a stalwart addition to the scene.
THE BED HEADS, photo by Cameron Berrens
There’s something mythical in Spencer’s uncertain voice - he croons, ‘Oh Arsinoe, where do we go? Now you’ll never be queen of the sea.’ One can’t help but wonder who Spencer finds himself longing for in this song that nods at a seemingly lost love that he harkens to an exiled Arsinoe of Egypt in 41 BC. The swimming guitars complete the mental image of a slow rowing boat away from home.
A highlight of the EP ‘Ether Or’ features a slappy snare and straight drums contrasting a swung vocal cadence to recollect a familiar feeling we must have all felt at one time or another:
♪ I pray for the rain, but I long for the sun ♪
Spencer captures in simple terms how tough times can nourish our souls with experience while the best days of our life seem to slide by so soon. The bridge completes with,
♪ So why am I here? Composed of ether, or am I just here to go and waste all your time? I don’t know if I was right if I was ever really wrong. It don’t matter now, if it ever did at all ♪
The Bed Heads never was a solo folk outfit, it was always a driving indie band with a sharp pen.
THE BEDHEADS IN THE STUDIO, photo by Cameron Berrens
‘Little Things’ rounds out the album with an opening that nods to their previously released softer songs before building into a pulsing guitar soft rock song. The mix on this track shines brightest of the whole project, with crystalline guitars, washed drums, and a clarity to the vocals that closes out the quick 15-minute project with one last ray of sunshine as Dusk settles.
If you like the Bed Heads or this review has piqued your interest, they're playing a show New Year’s Day that’s soon to be announced.
So tap into their socials and come out! Follow The Bed Heads on Instagram.
