Caddywhompus: EPs

This is a review that I've been waiting to write for about a month now. Caddywhompus lists itself as a "duo experimental/pop/psychadelic band" (drummer: Sean Hart, and Guitarist/Vocalist/crazy amp controller: Chris Rehm) residing in New Orleans, La. Their album EPs is a combination of their first two EP's they released, and listening to the sound they put together prior to hearing them live was actually very refreshing. They had so many abrasive but aesthetically pleasing elements to bring to light and their album never stopped impressing me. It was nice to break away for a little while.

Then....I heard them live!

I was not prepared to take in such a tremendous composition in only 45 minutes. Caddywhompus plays with raw energy, and I can say confidently that you need to see these guys live. If there are rules to playing music in a band, Caddywhompus doesn't have a clue what they are. They will throw any beat, riff, or distortion they can think of in your face just because they think it's cool. When they opened for Colour Revolt at the Spanish Moon, Rehm jokingly said, "our next song is called 'This Bitch was Golden.'" The titles for the songs on EPs are even funnier: 'Probably shouldn't have done all that acid'; 'Acadian Threeway'; and 'This is Where We Blaze the Nuggz.'

Let me also add that Rehm plays guitar with at least 6 pedals and some sort of vocal distortion. Watching the two move with their instruments ends up being half the performance because Rehm appears to be chasing the rapid & intense beats that Hart forces through his set. At the same time, he has to control several different layers of music that he is looping on top of each other. Furthermore, they often break away from this rapid style and slow their rhythms down tremendously, but they never stop performing.

While the band provides the drums and guitar parts with energy and tenacity, the vocals Rehm pumps out match them ten-fold. In the album EPs, the vocals commit to the music very effectively. And although the trippy sessions of drifty sound effects can take some getting used to, the full force of their album lies in the emotions communicated through their style of play and the innovative nature of the effects themselves. Songs such as 'Untitled #7408' express the true vitality behind this album.

I think the Caddywhompus (myspace) are definitely worth your time. A lot of the other tracks from the album can be found at The Hype Machine as well.

-Cory Vogel