Album Review

Thee Headcoatees

Man-Trap

Damaged Goods

LP / CD / DL

Released 14 November 2025

(5/5)

First new release since 1999’s Here Comes Cessation, a mere 26 years ago, from the Sisters of Suave. Thee Headcoatees; Ludella Black, Kyra LaRubia, Bongo Debbie & Holly Golightly – with Billy Childish needless to say at the helm. This is a most welcome return from the Medways Shangri-La’s (kinda speaking) says Ged Babey, babbling excitedly, like a fool. 

It’s a full time job keeping up with Billy Childish associated releases under all his guises – and I’ve been slacking: Missing out on covering several The Guy Hamper Trio (featuring James Taylor) albums and singles.  Wild Billy Childish & The Singing Loins releases. Not to mentions loads more reissues.  Add to that the occasional CTMF single and the mysterious Trelane and The Squires of Gotho

But this, as you’d expect is a real treat – brand new Headcoatees: two EP’s from and called the Man Trap Sessions (Vol 1 and Vol2 -so five more non-album songs) and a full 14 song LP.

Thee Headcoatees – for the uninitiated are the ‘sister-band’ of Thee Headcoats – Billy Childish, Bruce Brand and Johnny Johnson. You need to get the Girlsville book to rad their whole story.

Women singing Billys songs has a strange effect to my mind – it makes them stronger/different in that it takes his somewhat chauvinist, macho tendencies and throws them back in his face. Headcoatee versions are always somehow ‘better’.  Which is not dissing Billy’s vocals or own performance – the simultaneously released Headcoats album is fantastic also. But the Headcoatees one will be the one which will get more rotation in my house.

In case you were wondering how the girls have been filling their time since the release of 1999’s Here Comes Cessation, read on…

LUDELLA BLACK has three solo albums to her credit as well as releases backing The Masonics and has just recorded with The 5,6,7,8’s. Along the way, she also sang with The Shall-I-Say Quois, with her pal Kyra.

KYRA LaRUBIA did a brief stint in The A-Lines in the early 2000’s alongside Bongo Debbie & Nurse Julie (of Stuck-Ups / Buffets / CTMF infamy) and worked on a reissue of her album Here I Am, I Always Am. Music then took a back seat, while Kyra concentrated on her doctorate in sports and exercise science. She has been a lecturer at the University of Kent since 2005.

BONGO DEBBIE has carried on rattling the traps in quite a few bands. She’s a member of Ye Nuns, (The Monks tribute band), The A-Lines, Dutronc and has recently depped for the Sting-Rays among others.

HOLLY GOLIGHTLY has, since 1999, released nine solo albums, six with Lawyer Dave in The Brokeoffs, duetted with Jack White on The White Stripes’ Elephant album and toured the world. (Look out for her latest album Look Like Trouble, also on Damaged Goods Records).

So what is on the album?

The KKK Took My Baby Away – Fabulous version of not The Ramones greatest song with the dirtiest guitar sound. Sounds beautifully Punk Rock Shangri-La’s and is only bettered later on by another Ramones cover  He’s Gonna Kill That Girl  which is quite possibly the very best version of any of da Brudders songs ever recorded.

Paint It, Black the Rolling Stones song is best known by my generation as the song which the uber-cool Mo-Dettes covered for their first single. The Headcoatees version is fantastic but basically because the drumming is so beautifully manic, Bruce Brand take a bow.  Everything else is great but the drumming somehow dominates and gives the track an edge. (Stones fans, knock yourself out – this is better than the original in my opinion.)

The Money Will Roll Right In – this is a surprise, in that its a cover version of a 1983 song by an obscure American hardcore punk band called Fang.  They were ‘proto-grunge’ perhaps and ‘famously’ Nirvana also covered this song. It’s a dumb-ass piece of is-it-irony-probably-not punk rock which includes lines about the narrator wanting to go to Hollywood and be famous so he can achieve his goal of having sex with a female icon of the time. What is unbelievable is that it works as a Headcoatees song – and probably makes a point about the revisionism of punk history (i e there was a lot of worthless shite as well as socio-political comment in there.)

The newest of the Childish-penned songs is called Modern Terms of Abuse and is the only one which also appears on The Sherlock Holmes Rhythm ’n’ Beat Vernacular LP by the Headcoats. It’s a great characterisation and cartoonification of the ‘troll’.

Becoming Unbecoming Me  / Sex and Flies / Fire in the Mountains  from the Dylan-influenced William Loveday period are covered and, seeing as I love those songs they become the sublime centrepiece of Man-Trap.  Special mention must be made of Richard Moore whose violin playing on these tracks is unbelievable.  He must be one of the most accomplished players of his generation as he can really make the fiddle ‘sing’.

Jim Bowie  is a re-working of the Headcoats Davey Crocket, about, you guessed it – the person who popularised the Bowie knife, by using it a duel. An altogether unsavoury character whose is romanticized in American folklore. But just another fun Childish “cowboys & indians” type song. ( I wonder if Billy and Julie have heard the Dead Pioneers?)

Man-Trap / Signals of Love / I Can’t Find Pleasure are instant-classic, upbeat Childish readymades whilst The Double Axe / Walking on My Grave are darker, sharper and lyrically, obliquely reflect current-times.

Only on YouTube are the songs labelled ‘Holly-vocal’, ‘Kyra-vocal’ and so on, which is interesting. They do all have distinctively identifiable voices but it’s impossible (for me) to choose a favourite or rank them in order, because they all sound utterly fabulous and send shivers down my spine.

It’s a typically foolish thing for me to say – and its probably due to the 26 year gap – but this really is the Headcoatees ‘finest hour’ and ‘career-best’ – because the garage joie d’vivre is still there, but so is the depth of Childishs’ more recent song writing. So are the inspirational covers and the punk rock energy and shadow of death is never far away.

The Sherlock Holmes Rhythm ’n’ Beat Vernacular is out today too – and is a majestic and wonderful album too – but has a couple of pedestrian songs – whereas Man-Trap really is All Killer.

Welcome Back Headcoatees, it’s been too long, but worth the wait.

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