Home Read News Thee Headcoats’ Irregularis (The Great Hiatus) Tops Today’s Album Announcements

Thee Headcoats’ Irregularis (The Great Hiatus) Tops Today’s Album Announcements

Billy Chidish’s legendary trio will release their first album in 22 years on March 31.

THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “The undisputed kings of garage rock are back! It’s been 22 years since the last Headcoats album, but now Billy Childish, Bruce Brand and Johnny Johnson are back with a brand-new studio album! Yes, you read that correctly! Irregularis (The Great Hiatus) will be released on March 31. Recorded last year at Ranscombe Studios in Rochester. The lads kindly answered some pertinent questions…

You got back together recently as Thee Headcoats Sect to make the Tribute to Don Craine EP. What was it like working with each other again after all this time?
BILLY: It was ‘fab’ and ‘gear.’
BRUCE: The weirdest thing for me was how weird it wasn’t. It was like time compressed, but to the ‘good old days’, early on. I was wary that it ‘wouldn’t be like Thee Headcoats‘, but it was.
JOHNNY: I’m with Bruce and Billy on that one. I think we were all surprised how it all just worked. If I remember correctly, we kicked off role playing like we detested each other. Then we got started and well, you can hear the result.

What were the first songs you ran through when you got in the studio?
BILLY: That’s a very good question. No idea.
BRUCE: I can’t remember. They all sound the same to me.
JOHNNY: Bill had stuff on his phone that went “KSSHHCCCKSSHHHH”! So, we did that first.

You’ve also paid tribute to Don with a track on the Irregularis album — Oh Leader We Do Dig Thee. He was, along with the other members of Downliners Sect, a big inspiration to Thee Headcoats. When did you first become aware of his music and what was he like to work with?
BRUCE: We were given (or possibly lent) a reissue of the Sect’s first LP around 1977, marketed as Punk From The Vaults, which certainly floated our boats and definitely popped our corks, due to the somewhat aggressive yet carefree nature of the tunes and sound in general. Ollie, our old bassist, found an ad in a trade magazine for them with a contact number for a Michael O’Donnell, which I excitedly called almost immediately. T’was none other than Don hisself and we managed to convince him into venturing down to Rochester to record some tunes with us which became the first Headcoat Sect EP. We were fairly starstruck and presented him with a brand-new ‘dearstalker’ (or ‘Headcoat’, as they were now known). He was very accommodating and a great laugh and spent the evening with us, regaling us with tales of yore. I recorded a lot of it on cassette, which I may still have somewhere. Gawd bless Don.
BILLY: I heard them via Ron (Bruce). I picked up a copy of The Rock Sects In, a truly great LP. Next thing I was picking up Don from Rochester station in the old ambulance, then driving down to the boat yard to winkle Ron out of his bunk, if you’ll pardon the expression. Next it was off to Red Rodders studio to record Sect Maniac, then an evening in a Borstal pub trying to get Don to stop talking too loudly about his uncle being on bombing trips to the U.K. when he was in the IRA and musing about kings being bled into the fields if the harvest failed. Top Chap.
JOHNNY: Glendora and He Was A Square. I don’t know how or when I discovered these tracks — probably from my older sisters. When Don first came down to record with us, I hadn’t been in the band that long so I pretty much kept stumm. By the time we got to the laughs, stories and general hilarity I was tanked up, so l probably spent the evening glaring at him.

The New York Times famously called you “the kings of garage rock”. We reckon they were correct. Do you agree?
JOHNNY: Ahh journalists, bless ’em. They’re right, though.
BILLY: I think the term was ‘undisputed kings of garage rock.’ of course I concur, apart from we call it rhythm and beat / drums and racket.
BRUCE: What’s one above ‘kings’?

I’m sure Headcoats fans would love to see a live show. Is there any possibility?
BILLY: There’s always possibility.
BRUCE: I’m sure it’s highly possible that Headcoats fans would love that.
JOHNNY: Oh gawd. I’ve dropped me plectrum!

Out of the three of you, who makes the best cup of tea?
BRUCE: That’ll be me, then.
BILLY: I definitely did most of the tea making and cooking the bastards’ breakfast! (And dinner come to think of it.)
JOHNNY: Nothing like a nice cup of tea, is there? What was the question?

Irregularis (The Great Hiatus) Tracklist

1. The Baker Street Irregulars
2. Full Time Plagiarist
3. The Ballad of Malcolm Laphroaig
4. Cops and Robbers
5. Mr H Headcoat
6. Thee Headcoatitude
7. Tubs Help Out
8. The Leader of the Sect
9. Oh Leader We Do Dig Thee
10. One Ugly Child
11. 7% Solution
12. The Kids are All Square

And don’t forget the rest of today’s album announcements:

March 10

Bondax | Energy EP
Stuart Bowditch | Fonema
Erik & The Worldly Savages | Future Thunder Void
Garland | Heartbeat
Rob & Jack Lahana | Summercamp
Amber Meulenijzer | Saab Fanfare
Joanne Rand | Stay Awhile
Sunburned Hand of the Man | Melted
Telefone | Telefone
Jennifer Touch | Shot Shot Single
Various Artists | Roadrunner United: The Dagger

March 17

Miles Hewitt | Live at the Sleeper Cave
Dino Lenny | I’ve Learned That
Moar & The Badlibs | Some Jazz Hop Vibes
Dorothy Moskowitz & The United States of Alchemy | Under An Endless Sky
Ed Ryan | A Big Life
Telos | Delude
Treedeon | New World Hoarder

March 24

Beam Splitter | Split Jaw
Binary Marketing Show | Somehow We​’​ll Grow Into Some Overlapping Oak (Selected Songs, 2007​-​2022
Cremation Lily | Four Notes
Elnath Project | The Long Lightning Flashes Of The First Floor
Koudlam | Precipice Fantasy Part II
Tina Leon | Pull
Evan Lindorff-Ellery | Swollen Air
Joanna Mattrey | Soulcaster
Aoife O’Donovan | Aoife O’Donovan Plays Nebraska Vinyl
Alain Pierre | Des Morts (Of The Dead)
Playbackers | Playbackers Record
Bart Ryan | Messenger
Cécile McLorin Salvant | Mélusine
Solaris | Abbiamo Una Legge E Per Questa Legge Deve Morire
Zhu Wenbo / Zhu Songjie | Magnet Blues

March 31

David Backshell | Turn Up The Dark
Cousines Like Shit | Barbie Single
Dead End Finland | Victory
Eteraz | Destined To Kill
Eventless Plot | Distance Between Us
Thee Headcoats! | Irregularis (The Great Hiatus)
Larry June & The Alchemist | The Great Escape
Sondre Lerche | Avatars Of The Night
Lord Genmu | Sigils
Lucidity | The Minsk Sea
Kyle McKearney | A Traveler’s Lament
Mystic 100’s | On A Micro Diet
Olde Throne | In the Land of Ghosts
V2 | Johnny Rocco / Car Crash Single
Wampyric Rites / Moloch | The Serpent Cult Of Darkness

April 7

Eric Andersen | Margrethe Fjorden
Area Resident | Phosphene
Blush Response | Neuroscape
Caural | Dakou
Daffy | After Effects
Macula Dog | Neosporin Remixes
Art P / Die Synthetische Republik | Genscher Pull N Push / Der Bö​se Osten Split EP
Rew<< | Nyasa et Lilian
Remy Shand | The Way I Feel Vinyl Reissue
Johnny Thunders | From The Beginning To The End
Various Artists | Jura Soundsystem Presents Transmission Three

April 14

Raul Alvarez | One Night In The Heaven
Bilderine | Split Seconds
The Creative Technology Consortium {CtC} | Panoramic Colorsound
The Ducks | High Flyin’
Gabby Fluke-Mogul & Nava Dunkelman | Likht
40 Octaves Below / DI Auger | MthrFckr
Emm Gryner | Business & Pleasure
Gum Takes Tooth | Recovery Position
Jason Miles | Kind of New Live | Miles to Miles
Not | Stop The World
Ozmotic / Fennesz | Senzatempo
The Postman Syndrome | Terraforming 20th Anniversary Edition
Neil Young & The Santa Monica Flyers | Somewhere Under The Rainbow

April 21

Arkansauce | OK to Wonder
Jerome Forde | Jerome Forde
Frenzy | Of Hoods & Masks
Jim McHugh | I Whisper To The Dawn
Shayna Steele | Gold Dust
Terms | All Becomes Indistinct
Texas Hippie Coalition | The Name Lives ON
Triple Fast Action | Triple Fast Action

April 28

A Plane To Catch | Moko Jumbie
Be-Bop Deluxe | Sunburst finish Vinyl Reissue
D-Loc | Made For Kings
Riverhead | Cancer
Rush | Signals 40th Anniversary Edition

May 5

The Bomboras | Songs From Beyond
Sam Butler | Folklore
Logan Halstead | Dark Black Coal
Lady Lamb | Ten Years Of Ripely Pine Box Set
Lafff Box | Lafff Box
Naavi | V
Neolia | Neolia
Risin Sabotage | Macabre
Selma Savolainen | Horror Vacui
Lila Tristram | Home
Unearth | The Wretched; The Ruinous
Various Artists | The Jazz Room Vol. 2 Compiled by Paul Murphy
Wave Temples | Panama Shift

May 12

Duskwood | The Last Voyage
Industrial Puke | Born Into The Twisting Rope
Mission In Black | Profit Reigns Supreme
Sun Ra & His Intergalactic Solar Arkestra | Space Is The Place: Music From The Original Soundtrack
Ritual Howls | Virtue Falters
2nd Face | utOpium
El Shirota | Ni Siquiera Estamos Listos Para Hablar
Brian Slagel | Swing of the Blade: More Stories from Metal Blade Records Book
The Three O’Clock | Baroque Hoedown Remastered & Expanded
Watts | Flash Of White Light​ / Black Heart Of Rock N Roll Bundle

May 19

Anna | Intentions
The Chantays | A Dawning Sun
Samantha Fish & Jesse Dayton | Death Wish Blues
Ennio Morricone | Città Violenta
Jeremy Tuplin | Orville’s Discotheque
Yakuza | Sutra

May 26

Boy & Bear | Boy & Bear
Burial Hordes | Ruins
Burland | UK to GH
Steve Earle & The Supersuckers | Steve Earle & The Supersuckers EP Reissue
Glitch | Towards The Gutter
Suffering Quota | Collide
Supersuckers | Must’ve Been High Demos Reissue
Supersuckers | Must’ve Been High Reissue
Hideki Yoshimura 吉村秀樹 | Selected Solo Works

June 2

Ashnikko | Weedkiller
Chernaya Rechka | Chernaya Rechka
Closure In Moscow | Soft Hell
Omnium Gatherum | Slasher EP
Risin Sabotage | Macabre
Vulture Feather | Liminal Fields

June 9

Dead Quiet | IV
Godflesh | Purge

June 16

Aphasia | Live Through I Live On (Redux) EP

June 23

Dippers | Clastic Rock

July 7

All For Metal | Legends

August 4

Various Artists | Speedy Wunderground: The Dubs Vol. 1

August 11

Swimm | Best Comedown Ever

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