NEW ALBUM | Meltheads - Decent Sex

Meltheads release long-awaited debut album ‘Decent Sex’

“Reminiscent of Iggy Pop in flamboyance, there’s a righteous sensibility to their music which recalls The Birthday Party, or perhaps The Gun Club” – Clash (UK)

“Conjures mosh pits in the mind with its brash ferocity” – DIY (UK)

“Downplaying may suit others, but Meltheads boldly draw comparisons to Iggy Pop. With confidence, the Belgian quartet presents this intriguing debut, packed with melodic noise.” – Visions (DE)

Following a series of explosive singles, Belgium’s premiere purveyors of post-punk nihilism, Meltheads today release their raucous debut album, ‘Decent Sex’. To celebrate the band have also released a surreal and darkly debauched video for the title track which you can watch here. 

Meltheads have been spreading wildfire on stages in Belgium and The Netherlands for a good while now, driven by the metronomically tight rhythm section of Tim Pensaert (bass) and Simon de Geus (drums), and fuelled by the razor sharp and skilful guitar of Yunas De Proost. And then there’s frontman Sietse Willems, a man born to be on stage, like Morrison, Plant and Iggy Pop in one brutal and gnarly package.

The album kicks off with the title track, linking Stooges to The Doors, and not beating about the bush: it’s going to be at breakneck speed, and it’s going to be loud. Just 30 minutes later, once the final notes of fever dream Melvin have died out, ‘Decent Sex’ leaves you knocked out on the floor after an insane trip along blaring post punk (Gear), visceral noise (Theodore), sweeping psych (White Lies) and good old rock ‘n’ roll (Screwdrivers). Eleven tracks of screaming guitars, stomping drums, thick bass and Willems’ primal rasp, but also catchy melodies (No One Is Innocent, Gear, Arbeit), addictive hooks (Night Gym), unexpected variations (Vegan Leather Boots) and surprising backings (White Lies). Meltheads take references like Amyl & The Sniffers, The Gun Club, The Fall and Wire, throw them in the cement mixer and pave a rock-hard road to international breakthrough with it.

Part of the world is already turning its head, as renowned radio stations like KEXP (US) and BBC Radio 1 (UK) are picking up songs like I Want It All and Theodore, and fellow Antwerp based rock legends dEUS took them on tour, even as far as London’s Electric Brixton. Influential music magazines like Clash, DIY (UK) and Visions (DE) dug up superlatives – and comparisons to The Birthday Party – for Theodore, a song about looking for (self) love, but also about the mess drug use can lead to. All not very uplifting, and most themes return in several songs, like the dark side to relationships and sex (White Lies, Decent Sex), or toxic masculinity (Vegan Leather Boots, Theodore again) and even politics (No One Is Innocent, Arbeit). Pretty heavy stuff, but wrapped in the highly infectious and piercing guitar rock Meltheads are serving, it’s going like a bomb.

Live the band are already becoming a fixture of European stages. After a glorious performance at the ESNS showcase festival in Groningen (January 2024), Meltheads will tour Europe in full this year. Club tours in France, Germany and the UK will soon be announced.