Headcoats Down - Thee Headcoats (1989)
Ideated from: I keep a playlist of things that have been reissued, remastered, or given some kind of historical or archival release. I’ll tick some of those off this week.
Billy Childish has recorded under a ridiculous number of monikers and side projects. The one people are likely to have heard of was Thee Headcoats, whose debut record came out in 1989 despite sounding like it’s straight out of 1966.
You get a dose of 60s garage rock and the electric blues that were popular at the same time, all filtered through the punk and underground sound of later decades.
Tracks I Liked
Smile Now - if there’s such a thing as a rock standard, Louie Louie is it. There are thousands of songs that copy the simplistic and gleeful structure of the song. This is but one humble example.
Child’s Death Letter - clearly inspired by or building off of the similar Son House tune.
Wily Coyote - Another blues stomp, this one sounding more like Muddy Waters.