Severed Heads Essentials

Severed Heads was the first Australian electronic outfit to survive the transition from the local underground experimental scene of the late '70s to eventually find an international audience by the '80s. They even scored a global dance-floor hit by the '90s. The earliest recordings by the Sydney collective, whose only constant over the years was cofounder Tom Ellard, were pure avant-garde, but as electronic dance music started taking shape as a genre, Severed Heads' innovative approach to sound, music and visuals became less austere and more palatable in the mainstream, at least to dance and alternative ears. Their best-known conventional album remains their international debut, 1983's Since the Accident.