Along with the Close Lobsters, The Dentists proved to be one of the smartest and most sophisticated jangle exports from the British Isles…and as fate usually has it, they barely made a dent Stateside. For me they presented the classic, “I preferred their earlier stuff” frustration. The Dentists final two albums, Behind the Door I Keep the Universe and Deep 6 (both recorded for a major label amazingly) offered no deficit of quality control in the songwriting department, but didn't pack as much bite and nascent excitement as their first volley of eps, and their debut long-player, Some People Are on the Pitch. Fortunately for me there was a lot of that "earlier stuff," to go around, some of which was conveniently distilled on their Dressed retrospective collection.
Heads and How to Read Them was something of a transitional record, wherein the Dentists slowly loosened their hyper guitar-wrangling reins in favor of a slightly more refined approach. The results (a hearty sixteen of them) proved to be fairly diverse, ranging from the infectious rhythmic thrust propelling "House The Size Of Mars," to the chiming persuasion of "Delicious," not to mention the relatively melancholic hue that colors "Rivals for the Hand Of Isabel." Heads... was an Austrian release and has never been particularly easy to track down in the States, so enjoy. More Dentists goodies may follow in the new year, and just so you know, I've already dedicated an entry to their 1991 ep, Naked.
01. House The Size Of Mars
02. Beautiful Day
03. Rivals for the Hand Of Isabel
04. Killing Me
05. In the Ocean
06. Butterfly
07. Crocodile Tears
08. Daffodil Scare
09. Eliza
10. Delicious
11. Have It Your Own Way
12. Snapdragon
13. Pocket of Silver
14. The Fun Has Arrived
15. Around My Room
16. There Was Love on the Floor So I Walked on the Ceiling