Man-Trap

Thee Headcoatees split up in 1999, each of the four members going their separate ways in music and life and seemingly shutting the door on a career full of A+ rock & roll. Fast forward to 2024 and the bands distaff partners, the recently re-formed Thee Headcoats, were recording an album and thought it would be fun to round up the members of Thee Headcoatees and get them on wax, too. After some behind the scenes work, Ludella Black, Kyra LaRubia, Bongo Debbie, and Holly Golightly were in the studio, backed by Thee Headcoats on a selection of songs written by Billy Childish along with a few choice covers. Unlike many of their happy-go-lucky records made in their early prime, Man-Trap is an angry affair filled with songs about abuse, frustration, the ills of a society gone mad, and other topics that are a far stretch from fun. Even the song that comes closest to romping, "Jim Bowie," is a pointed demand for the frontiersman to make amends to the native populations he wronged. Each of the women spit their lines like they left a bad taste in their mouth, the band play like they are ripping bandages off, and the production is punchy and raw, like any Childish-featuring record. It is very much his record, but having the women sing his vitriolic words makes them cut even deeper. Ranging from the unhinged passion of "Walking on My Grave" to the introspective melancholy of "Becoming Unbecoming Me," these are songs that dig into some serious emotions, and the vocalists give them the gravity they deserve while at the same time imbuing them with timeless style. They also take no prisoners on the covers -- two from the Ramones, "The KKK Took My Baby Away" and the harrowing "Hes Gonna Kill That Girl," plus a version of the Rolling Stones "Paint it Black" that comes as close as any band ever has at getting right at the center of the songs darkness. The entire album is mired in gloom and doom, basted in anger and pain, while also managing to rock like the dickens. Its defiantly a new kind of experience for the band, one that might surprise fans looking to this revival for kicks, but also one that will thrill anyone looking for a record that sounds like the most contrary, uncompromising, and flat-out punk thing possible in 2025. ~ Tim Sendra