THEE HEADCOATS
CONUNDRUM (DAMAGED GOODS)
The Undisputed Kings of Garage Rock! **Reissue of their long out of print classic!** "Ripping off the Non-Entities of Yesterday, Influencing the Stars of Tomorrow..." So it was written on the back sleeve of Conundrum on its initial release, almost a decade before The White Stripes and The Hives broke through.
How prescient they were! Thee Headcoats were mainly Billy Childish (Git/Vox) Bruce Brand (Drums) and Johnny Johnson (bass), they formed in 1989 after Billy's previous band Thee Mighty Caesars gave up the ghost.
By 1992 they had already released something like 6 albums and 15 singles. Conundrum was originally released in 1994 by Super Electro Sounds in the USA and Hangman Records everywhere else.
It's considered by many to be one of the best Headcoats albums. "Every Bit of Me" alone has enough rough-voiced and snarling garage punk power to shame wannabes half the age of Childish, and that's just the first track of 14.
His witty, blunt, and passionate views on life, love, and lust are as strong as ever, while the band sounds particularly great, still embracing the rough-and-ready ToeRag Studio sound but cutting the musical crap and kicking out jams like nobody's business.
Ned Raggett Allmusic.com Thee Headcoats carried on touring and releasing records until calling it a day in 2002.