Thee Goochi Boiz specialized in amped-up punked-out catchiness, and when done well it’s a fabulous sound. Prior to moving on to other projects Francis, Trevvor, and Thomas produced Oops! and Fast Food for the Teenage Soul; both are mighty fine, and the only real quibble was the existence of the pair as limited editions issued exclusively on cassette. Well, nitpick no more, for Windian Records has corralled them onto a single LP, its 22 cuts illuminating the group’s multifold strengths while emphasizing the undying vitality of the garage impulse.
Just a few days short of a year ago we lost Travis Jackson. But Windian Records, the label he started in 2009 to release a 45 by his band The Points, has persevered in its founder’s name and honor with Jackson’s friend Eric Brady now at the reins. In fact, 2014’s output was truly impressive, much of it being grooved into slabs of 7-inch vinyl.
Amongst the highlights dwells a repressing of the Killer Bees’ nifty “Buzz’n the Town” EP from ’79, the five singles included in the Windian Subscription Series #2 (featuring such acts as Mrs. Magician, Overnight Lows, and The Apes), the glam-trash-punk of Madison, WI duo The Hussy’s “EZ PZ” and the hard-garage science of Richmond, VA’s The Ar-Kaics’ “Why Should I?”
And for a while it seemed Windian’s sweetest move in 2014 was putting out The Ar-Kaics’ self-titled debut full-length. Indeed, anybody harboring a deep appreciation for undiluted Back From the Grave-styled ‘60s-punk action should inspect its 13 songs with due haste. But giving The Ar-Kaics a serious run for the money is this very necessary collection from Boulder, CO’s Thee Goochi Boiz.
Though based out west the Boiz are connected to Brattleboro, VT’s The Happy Jawbone Family Band through member Francis Carr; he’s currently residing in the Green Mountain State as part of Moth Eggs, their Recursive Surfing having emerged on cassette last autumn via OSR Tapes. And as stated up top, it was spools of sound in a plastic shell that previously harnessed Thee Goochi Boiz’s oeuvre courtesy of the enduring entity known as Burger Records; unlike much of the prolific California enterprise’s product they were tape only.
Bluntly, this is why 2011’s Oops! and 2013’s Fast Food for the Teenage Soul only recently crossed my path. Windian’s long-player stacks the ten selections from ‘13 onto side one, and as it’s the sturdier and leaner of the two efforts that’s a smart decision. Opener “Dilletante” (sic) is loaded with stomping handclapping shout-along melodic punk roar, and at two and a half minutes it’s a fully-formed doozy adroitly sidestepping any errors of overextension.
On the other side of the equation “Vietnam” clocks in at a mere 55 seconds, the speedy and lean throttle enhanced by military effects; the whole can’t help but put me in a Killed by Death frame of mind. This template gets additionally explored a little later by the buzzsaw mid-tempo of “Stewin in My Juices,” though it also underscores the general togetherness of Thee Goochi Boiz’s attack amongst the surface dishevelment.
“Why You Gotta Be Mean to Me” delivers the first unmitigated gem, the cut carrying monotone vocals and an overall ‘60s-ish vibe borrowed from the Ramones, at least until a plinking toy piano arrives to throw a curve, or perhaps better said, a screwball into the proceedings. As we go deeper into the side this twist is pleasantly accentuated through the shambolic pop of “Everything I Do is Wrong,” (it’s even got a melodica) and the deft, unconventionally tweaked (that persistent monotone and how it’s situated in the mix) punkish pop-rock of “Kathleen.”
The superb late-‘70s Cali-punk brattiness of “Something’s Missing” closes the side, the trio’s sly catchiness craftily intensifying it all. Flipping the platter over makes clear the dozen numbers that comprise Oops! shoulder a heavier disposition; “Gimme What I Want” has the knobs turned way up, and yet the Boiz’s pop touches aren’t totally obscured. The melodiousness is actually on open display at the start of “Freak Magnet,” though the track quickly transforms into a gnarled gallop.
Even as waves of distortion splatter forth, the pop savvy of “Boca Italia” bookends extremely well with Fast Food’s “Why You Gotta Be Mean to Me.” Plus, the three-punch combo of “Bummer in the Summer” (nope, not a Love cover), “Banana Split” and “Alexandra,” finds them impacting the ear kinda like the Posh Boy-era McDonald Brothers swimming across an in-ground swimming pool full of skateboards and snot.
But in further shrewd turns “Flashflood” hurls a non-hackneyed and nicely-distorted Dick Dale maneuver into the recipe, “Maté” and “Big Hole” reinvestigate Killed by Death/Bloodstains territory, “This Gun’s for Hire” mirrors the stomping clapping yelling aura of “Dilletante,” and “Shroud of Night” folds in a hint of pop-punk a la Buzzcocks.
“You’re the One I Want” ends side two with a final healthy dose of the Ramonsian, though Thee Goochi Boiz are off-kilter enough to appeal, hypothetically anyway, to fans of (for one example) Australia’s Blank Realm. No, not everything here rises to equal qualitative heights, but that’s essentially a given for the stuff of true punk rock, and the standard remains unusually strong from beginning to end.
In terms of inspired and slightly bent garage, Fast Food for the Teenage Soul/Oops! inhabits the same ballpark frequented by labels Goner, In the Red, and HoZac. No foolin’. If this level of worthiness persists it won’t be long until Windian is reliably employed as a yardstick of achievement for the offerings of fledgling garage imprints to come; frankly, I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s happening already.
The slate for 2015 looks extraordinary to say the least. Regarding new material there’s a live LP/DVD set from Dan Sartain, a Sick Thoughts/Blank Panties split album, and Subscription Series #3, this one holding six 45s housed in a limited edition box of 200 copies flaunting contributions from The Seers, Church Bats, Platinum Boys, and John Wesley Coleman III.
And just as enticing are two more reissues, ‘65’s “What a Girl Can’t Do” from notable Washington, DC-based garage act The Hangmen (they apparently tooled around town in a hearse, caused performance riots, and even played a private show for Bobby Kennedy) and ‘78’s rare and prohibitively expensive “Peer Pressure” EP from Baltimore, MD’s Killed by Death-legends Ebenezer & the Bludgeons.
But don’t let’s get ahead of ourselves. As detailed above, the complete extant recordings of Thee Goochi Boiz are presently available in one comely package, and 100 of them are pressed onto see-through vinyl if that sorta thing floats your personal dinghy. Those who suspect Fast Food for the Teenage Soul/Oops! to be their bag shouldn’t hesitate to jump right in.
GRADED ON A CURVE:
A-
