Medical Records presents it’s 60th release with the much needed reissue of Australia’s Severed Heads and their 1985 release – Stretcher. The Severed Heads story continues with the expanded and Stretched 2LP reissue. After personnel changes in 1985 (Garry Bradbury and Paul Deering left the band), Sev was now down to a 2 piece (Tom Ellard and Stephen Jones). Stretcher was originally released to be a compilation to introduce the band to an American audience, but it was ultimately sold in three versions due to other countries desiring their own version (an EP in Canada and England and an LP in Australia). The name was taken from the sign on the emergency stretcher at the front of every Sydney ferry during that era. This version is based on the Volition release (Australian version) but with all the tracks from the other versions for a full collection of 17 tracks over 2 LPs. A bit more “accessible” than the previous City Slab Horror with a number of dance floor stompers filling out the collection such as the 12″ versions of Halo and Petrol. The collection mostly consists of new tracks written for the multiple releases for each country release but also contains a few older tracks remixed and even a demo version of Harold and Cindy which would be later fleshed out on The Big Bigot. The Heads toured the LP across Australia in 1985 resulting in a lot of “exciting adventures with audiences who wanted to kill us” – Tom Ellard. Two other interesting facts in regard to this collection is that it was the first time Sev used MIDI and a DX7 and every track has some radio signal mixed in there somewhere, always by accident. The original version(s) are all long out of print and becoming rare on the collector’s market. Presented in a beautiful gatefold 2LP on high quality classic black 160gm vinyl with original artwork as well as new gatefold layout by Tom Ellard with extensive liner notes detailing the back story and creation of each individual track. Get lost in it.

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