''Heads Up'' is the first studio release by Canadian

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

duo Death from Above. It was released December 15, 2002, through Ache Records. The album was produced by

Al-P Alex Puodziukas known by his stage name Al-P, is a Canadian musician, record producer and recording engineer, best known for being part of the electronic music duo MSTRKRFT along with Jesse F. Keeler. Al-P was producer for Black Cat 13, Death f ...

who would later work alongside Jesse F. Keeler in the

electronic music Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroa ...

duo MSTRKRFT.

Background

Allmusic states the band takes cues from bands such as Lightning Bolt, Liars, and

electroclash Electroclash (also known as synthcore, retro-electro, tech-pop, nouveau disco, and the new new wave) is a genre of music that fuses 1980s electro, new wave and synth-pop with 1990s techno, retro-style electropop and electronic dance music. It ...

and describes the album as "minimalist, danceable racket with enough rock sensibilities for the

indie kids The 21st-century hipster is a subculture (sometimes called hipsterism). Fashion is one of the major markers of hipster identity. Members of the subculture typically do not self-identify as hipsters, and the word ''hipster'' is often used as a pej ...

and enough Throbbing Gristle for the art-noise lovers." The song "Dead Womb" is notable for the intro with an electronic voice saying: "La cocaina no es buena para su salud (Translation: Cocaine is not good for your health) La cocaina is not good for you." Before the song dive bombs into a punk sounding song. Sebastien Grainger actually said the intro was an old text-to-voice program on one of his older computers that did that voice. Apparently the program had weird choices like "little boy" and such, and it just stuck.

Critical reception

Tyler of Punknews.org concluded his review of the album saying "If you are looking for something fresh, raw, energetic and also unbelievably good to go running to, then get a "heads up" on this record immediately." He also compared the tracks to "

techno Techno is a Music genre, genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally music production, produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempo often varying between 120 and 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central Drum beat, rhythm is typ ...

-style sounds of synthesizer" and "blistering dance-punk"

Track listing

Personnel

Album personnel as listed in the 2005 reissue CD liner notes. ;Death from Above * Jesse F. Keeler – bass, vocoder, additional percussion, additional vocals, Illustration *

Sebastien Grainger Sebastien Alexandre Grainger (born 11 April 1979) is a Canadian singer and musician, best known as drummer and singer of the alternative rock duo Death from Above and the singer and guitarist for his band Sebastien Grainger and The Mountains. H ...

– drums, vocals, additional percussion, additional vocals ;Additional personnel *

– recording, additional percussion, additional vocals, layout

References

{{Authority control 2002 debut EPs Death from Above 1979 albums Last Gang Records albums