Thee Headcoatees were originally a backing band for Thee Headcoats but the quartet of Ludella Black, Kyra LaRubia, “Bongo” Debbie Green, and Holly Golightly took on a life of their own and recorded six albums before calling it a day back in 1999. They have come together to record `Man- Trap` which is released this month.
The album kicks off with a superb cover of the Ramones ‘The KKK Took my Baby Away’ which retains that “hey ho, lets, go” feel but with a sixties retro vibe and some delightful drum rolls. Title track `Man-Trap` follows and it has a kind of Doors `Hello, I Love You` meets The Kinks` All Day and All of the Night` garage rock texture. A cautionary tale of a predatory female temptress.
`Signals of Love` is another retro sixties offering where the narrator seeks conformation that the love offered is true while `The Double Axe` is much more reflective and has a more rockabilly Stray Cat stut to it.
‘Modern Terms of Abuse’ which features James Taylor on Hammond organ is a real sultry slow burn while ‘Becoming Unbecoming Me’ a reimagining of The William Loveday Intention number (a Billy Childish project/band) is a tender heartbreaking listen. I read it was the story of a Jewish girl in Austria who changed her identity and married a Nazi to escape the death camps. The strings added a further poignancy.
We have a couple of covers with The Rolling Stones ‘Paint It, Black’ which is a faithful version and retains the sense of grief that the song portrays whereas American garage rockers Dead Moon’s ‘Walking On My Grave’ is brought up to date with a real intensity and torment.
‘Jim Bowie’ is a chugging wavering number about the American military officer, landowner and slave trader who played a prominent role in the Texas Revolution and died at the Alamo. A simmering listen held in check and filled with resentment, distain, and condemnation. A reworked version of Thee Headcoats ‘Sex and Flies’ is fairly downbeat and has an almost Nico like psychedelic ambience.
The Ramones `You`re Gonna Kill That Girl’ is retitled and reworked as ‘He’s Gonna Kill That Girl’ and opens with a Shangri-Las `Leader of the Pack` intro before heading into a fast tempo rock n roll rumble. There`s a “don`t mess with me or else” formidable growling mood to `Fire In The Mountains` which feels as if it could explode at any moment.
`I Can`t Find Pleasure` is a rolling rhythmic offering, a reworked version of Thee Mighty Caesars track, another Billy Childish outfit. The album concludes with an in your face fuzz drenched version of Fang`s `The Money Will Roll Right In` a number that has been covered by numerous artists such as Mudhoney, Nirvana and Metallica.
There was so much to enjoy with `Man-Trap` which brought a real ray of sunshine into a wet and dreary November.
Rating 9/10
