Thee Headcoatees return with Man-Trap, a superb collection of raw, primitive Garage Rock and Punk featuring all four of the band's distinctive vocalists. Kyra, Ludella Black, Debbie Green and Holly Golightly each take the lead on different tracks, giving the album plenty of variety while retaining the rough-edged, infectious sound that made Thee Headcoatees such an essential part of the Medway Garage scene.
The album opens with Ludella's energetic take on the Ramones classic The KKK Took My Baby Away, followed by Kyra's title track, while Debbie handles Signals Of Love and Holly takes the lead on The Double Axe and Modern Terms Of Abuse. Much of the album was written by Billy Childish, whose unmistakable songwriting and production help give the record its stripped-down, no-frills attack. Elsewhere, Ludella takes on Paint It, Black and Jim Bowie, while Kyra supplies vocals for Walking On My Grave, Sex And Flies, I Can't Find Pleasure and the closing The Money Will Roll Right In.
There are some interesting touches around the raw Garage Rock core, too. James Taylor adds Hammond organ to Modern Terms Of Abuse, while Richard Moore contributes strings to Becoming Unbecoming Me and Sex And Flies. Engineered by 'Bloody' Jim Riley at Ranscombe Studios in Rochester and presented in mono, Man-Trap is a brilliantly uncompromising collection that captures Thee Headcoatees' combination of tough Garage Punk, memorable songs and four very different vocal personalities.
