Thee Headcoats "The Kids Are All Square - This Is Hip!" 1990**** / Thee Headcoatees ‎"Girlsville" 1991****

Billy Childish is a true original - he emerged from the lo-fi punk/garage/blues Medway scene of the late 70's as an impossibly prolific singer/guitarist (about a 100 albums, released by a dozen different groups) as well as painter, poet and overall cult artistic personality. He's played punk, psychobilly and blues among other styles, but Thee Headcoats, probably the best-known of all his groups, were more or less straight garage rock. Obviously there isn't anything new and revolutionary about the music; it's all just rock'n'roll, played right. At times you get the nagging sensation the tunes are a bit too familiar: The opening "Gatekeeper" sounds like The Downliner Sect's "One Ugly Child", "Davey Crockett" like The Premiers' "Farmer John" etc. But what does matter when you're having so much fun? Childish's lyrics are true to the rock'n'roll tradition - with the addition of the best dry English humour. "Davey Crocket" (one of the many Western-themed songs here) features The Headcoatees on vocals, lots of handclaps and the Ramones Gabba-Gabba-Hey war cry. The party atmosphere and male/female vocals also reminds of the B52's. "Monkeys Paw"'s jungle sounds and guitar riffs are closer to The Cramps, while "All My Feelings Denied" is a mix of Sonics and early Kinks. "Ballad Of The Fogbound Pinhead" adds a cheesy keyboard part to the mix. "Cowboys Are Square" is another Louie Louie/Farmer John garage ditty remarkable for its funny anti-cowboy lyric and ululating Indians in the background. "Poccahontas Was Her Name" continues the Wild West saga, with its tribal rhythms and recounting of the popular myth. "Nanook of The North" is inspired by a 1922 pseudodocumentary about Eskimos - who else than Billy Childish could have made an R&B song out of this story? "Squaresville" is the slow psychedelic one, and "Krasal" mixes the classic Bo Diddley beat with some carnival music. Generally a great record with no weak songs. One sees why Jack White and Kurt Cobain were such big Billy Childish fans...

***** for Davey Crockett

**** for Monkey's Paw, Ballad Of The Fogbound Pinhead, All My Feelings Denied, Cowboys Are Square,  I Can Destroy All Your Love, Poccahontas Was Her Name, Nanook Of The North, A Town Named Squaresville

*** for I'm A Gamekeeper, Karasal

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Generally coupling two albums by different groups in one CD doesn't sound like such a great practice. In this case, though, there can be some debate on whether Thee Headcoats and Headcoatees are indeed different bands. Ostensibly the latter were an all-female band and their pose on the record cover is meant to give that impression. But in truth I doubt they played the instruments heard on this record: Tradition with Childish bands was to feature a few numbers with female guest vocalists, usually their girlfriends. These were often presented as the work of a girl band. As The Milkshakes gave way to Thee Mighty Ceasars and then to Thee Headcoats, so their female analogues Milkboilers were succeeded by The Delmonas and they in turn by Thee Headcoatees. The latter band contained Holly Golightly (then dating Headcoats drummer Bruce Brand), who was destined to have a long and successful solo career. She sings lead on a cover of the Kinks' "First Plane Home", "Boysville" and Childish-penned "When The Night Comes" - all reminiscent of 60's British Invasion R&B. Contrary to Thee Headcoats who just incorporated (or stole if you prefer) classic rock'n'roll tunes in their own compositions, the 'Coatees usually just cover the oldies. The humour here comes from the gender reversal: While the original "Wild Man" was sung from the perspective of a boy whom the parents of his beloved try to keep away from their daughter, in this version it's about a young girl lusting for the boy-next-door's father. Likewise, instead of the sexy Gloria of Van Morrison's garage classic, the singer gets nightly visits (and orgasms) by the tall and mysterious "Melvin". On the Beatles' "Run For Your Life" and "Money" Ludella Black sounds much more dangerous and greedy than the clean-cut Fab Four ever did. She also takes the lead on the Bo Diddley-ish "Meet Jacqueline" -a paean to a famous UK 60's go-go-girl- as well as the punky "Give It To Me" and vindictive garage rocker "Stolen Love". Kyra La Rubia handles the saucier numbers "Wild Man" and (The Sonics') "Dirty Old Man", while Bongo Debbie offers a tough R&B cover of Petula Clarke's "Round Every Corner" and lead vocals and lustful moans on "Melvin". "Girlsville" turned out to be so successful that what started as a side project ended up more popular than the main band, The Headcoatees went on to release many more records, as well as solo albums for each girl. As for this particular compilation, pairing two great albums in one CD makes for an unresistable combination - unless, of course, you're strictly a vinyl person. Billy Childish makes his feelings clear on the stamp on the album cover where the CD is described as a silver digital beermat!

***** for Melvin

**** for Wild Man, When The Night Comes, Stolen Love, Run For Your Life, Dirty Old Man, The First Plane Home, Meet Jacqueline

*** for Round Every Corner, Give It To Me, Boysville, Money