Faxed Head – “Coalinga Love” (2001, Web of Mimicry)

I think its fairly apparent at this point to anyone that has followed this website that I love music that could be classified as “unconventional”. Be it posts about Steven Seagal’s awful music career or podcasts about the best albums I listened to in the previous year, most of this website’s followers know I enjoy music that tends to be strange in a way that doesn’t endear me to others.

I also love a great weirdo collaboration. Any time two disparate artists come together to try and find a mutual understanding, I am all for it regardless of the results. Sometimes its amazing like with Z-Rock Hawaii. Sometimes its Lulu. Either way, I’m all for it.

So, imagine the joy I felt in my cold, dead heart when I saw these two forces coalesce in one fucked up song: “Coalinga Love” by Faxed Head from their 2001 album Chiropractic.

I had never heard of Faxed Head prior to a week or so ago, which is surprising considering some of the people involved in this project. While their bio refers to them as “teenage survivors of a suicide pact gone horribly awry”, in reality they are a rather wild collective of musicians under assumed names (Neck Head, McPatrick Head, etc.) that I am very familiar with.

Heading up this project is Trey Spruance, the founder of the eclectic “seven bands in one” group Secret Chiefs 3 and former member of Faith No More, Mr. Bungle, and Asva. Joining him in this endeavor are Grux and Brandan Kearney of the equally mysterious group Caroliner, Phil Franklin from Caroliner and Sunburned Hand of the Man, multi-instrumentalist James Goode… and Gregg Turkington

That’s right, Neil Hamburger sings vocals for this band, and yes it is as insane as it sounds.

While this is normally a death metal collective, this is actually a sort of fucked up, glitchy noise rock take on hip-hop. That’s because, if the name didn’t give it away (and frankly, you would be forgiven for not picking up on it), this is fucking cover of the 2Pac and Dr. Dre classic “California Love”.

But even then that doesn’t really do this song justice. This is not a word-for-word recreation of “California Love” run through the weirdo engine a few times. This song uses… not the bones of “California Love”, but more the lymph nodes and viscera of “California Love” to create a shambling narrative about recording albums in the bathroom of the Coalinga Taco Bell after business hours, getting kicked out of said Taco Bell by the manager, and the proposed legal fight to record there again (and to hire back the fired assistant manager who let it all happen in the first place).

Yeah, I don’t think I need to elaborate any further. This song rules and you should all listen to it.