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Album reviews: Thee Headcoats /Thee Headcoatees/Miss Ludella Black/Armitage Shanks

By Ian Ladlow
Medway sect albums main

A plethora of primeval aural pleasures from veterans of the Medway scene!

What kind of madness is this? Damaged Goods Records are releasing four contrasting albums from esteemed members of the Medway scene on the same day…

Thee Headcoats, Thee Headcoatees, Miss Ludella Black and Armitage Shanks each have a new LP out tomorrow, Friday 13th November 2026!

The common factor is none other than Mr. Wild Billy Childish, who has a strong connection with each – read on to find out more…

Thee Headcoats - 'Children Of The Sect' album cover

The sonic blast of Thee Headcoats ‘Children of the Sect’ will be no surprise to ardent fans of the band. Wild Billy Childish (guitars/vocals), Johnny Johnson (bass) and Bruce Brand (drums) have donned their deerstalkers again to produce another solid album of garage ‘n’ blues. Opening track ‘The Medway Queen’ sets the scene with raw gutsy guitars battling it out with Billy’s distorted vocal before descending into a glorious cacophony of sound.

What follows is an album full of primordial sounds that take you back to the roots of rock n rock. Billy Childish’s lyrics remain as focussed as always – no need to resort to a thesaurus when you can use the raw undiluted language of delta blues to convey your message. ‘A Surprise to You (No Surprise to Me)’ is exactly what it says on the tin whilst the ‘Hacksaw’ is a wonderful slice of raw guitar tomfoolery with the occasional cry of ‘Hacksaw’ inserted for good measure. Simplicity at its best.

‘Bo Diddley’s a Serial Killer’ and the harp driven blues plus call and response vocals of ‘Bring it to Jerome’ take the band even further back in the genre’s formative years. Highlights include the psychedelic tinged title track and the fun lyrics of ‘The Reason We Didn’t Sound Like the Smiths’ justifying the band’s unrepentant style. Finishing with ‘I Give Myself to You All’, Billy’s crew have produced another album of raw unapologetic rock n roll showing there’s still an abundance of creative vigour left in Mr. Childish’s song writing book.

Thee Headcoatees - ‘Ev’rybody’s Gonna Be Happy’ album cover

Not content with bringing Thee Headcoats back into the studio in 2025, Billy Childish also persuaded Thee Headcoatees to reform after 25 years and record the wonderful ‘Man Trap’ album. Less than a year later and Holly Golightly, Ludella Black, Kyra LaRubia and Bongo Debbie are back with another album – ‘Ev’rybody’s Gonna Be Happy’ – mixing a number of covers with original material written by Billy. The title track is a faithful cover of The Kinks 1965 single with Ludella taking on the vocal duties. Other covers include ‘Louie Louie’ (Richard Berry), a twist on ‘I Wanna Be Your Girlfriend’ (Ramones), ‘Mr Pharmacist’ (The Other Half) along with a brace from Bo Diddley (‘Cadillac’ and ‘The Great Grandfather’).

Whilst these are enjoyable, the fun really comes from Billy’s original material such as the gutsy ‘I’m Good Enough’. The sultry ‘Miss Ludella Black’ is followed by Holly taking on ‘Sex and Flies’ and ‘I Give Myself To You All’. The first of these appeared on last year’s ‘Man Trap’ in a very different form – whilst that was a seductively string laden song, this version takes the tune into fast rock n roll territory. The latter takes the closing track from Thee Headcoats album, and twists it to another perspective. The same strategy worked equally as well last year with the contrasting versions of ‘Modern Terms of Abuse’.

Topping the album off is the fantastically droll ‘He’s Not Billie Eilish’ with its tale of a foolish mistaken identity. In Billy’s words, ‘the title comes from some fan being very excited that the makers of James Bond had commissioned me to write a title theme to one of their rubbish movies. He later realised he needed to wash his ears out.’ The album might just about breach twenty-five minutes, but when the material is a fun as this, that is no bad thing. Great stuff.

Miss Ludella Black - ‘No One Makes a Fool Out Of Me’ album cover

For her fourth solo album Miss Ludella Black, ‘No One Makes a Fool Out Of Me’, is backed by The Masonics.  Firmly rooted in sixties soundscapes, the album emphasises Ludella’s emotionally charged bluesy vocals from the opening track. ‘City of Shame’ is a cracking tune full of fuzzy guitars, harmonies and a very confident swagger. ‘My Heart’s Beating Faster’ echoes the likes of The Shirelles and The Shangri-Las as the song’s pulsing beat moves towards its inevitable conclusion.

The title track is a gentle stroll through Ludella’s emotional struggles before the gorgeous ‘Every Once In A While’ with its feisty guitar motif. The fuzzy guitars are back in force for the vitriolic ‘I Can’t Even Cry’. The Lou Reed co-penned ‘Why Don’t You Smile Now’ has a certain Italian Job coolness to it and is one of the album’s choice selections. Songs such as ‘It’s My Affair’ and ‘I Can’t Get Over Losing You’ keep up the girl group harmonics whilst visceral guitars slash through the rhythm with wild abandon.

A welcome cover of Carl Perkins ‘Matchbox’ faithfully retains its rockabilly roots. Ludella’s vocals on ‘I Bear the Scars’ become increasingly strained slowly morphing into the sort of histrionics that Sinead O’Connor made her early trademark. Covering the legendary Etta James is always going to be fraught with criticism, but Ludella’s rendition of ‘Seven Day Fool’ is a solid attempt with her voice dominating the musical accompaniment. The album finishes with the spine chilling ‘You Waster, You’ which will make your hairs stand on end.

If you like The Primitives (especially their more recent material) then this album will be straight up your street.

Armitage Shanks - ‘Charge of the Shite Brigade’ album cover

Not content with recording the Thee Headcoats and Thee Headcoatees albums, Billy Childish has found time to play on the new record from fellow Medway residents, Armitage Shanks. According to singer Dick Scum, he “called up his old mucker Rod Vomit, (guitar) and explains he’s tricked avant garde collagist, Kurt Von Schitters, AKA Billy Childish, into playing bass and producing an eighth Armitage Shanks LP, the first in twenty-two years.”

Maintaining the band’s unique line in toilet humour, here comes ‘Charge of the Shite Brigade’. ‘Thoughts of Violence’ opens the shebang with a massive slab of guttural punk rock. It’s fast, furious and really good, as a 59-year-old Dick recalls their origins and writing songs that people will never hear just to please himself. ‘Banned from the Shops’ continues the frantic pace with a humorous list of shops to be banned from. Songs such as ‘Deny Me’ and ‘Sleep all Day’ provide variety amongst the faster songs, the latter having a particularly catchy chorus. ‘Uncontrollable Serge’ is just bonkers with extra points for including the lyric “pointing Percy at the porcelain”.

Miss Spendapenny (pseudonyms are a deemed requirement) takes over vocal duties for ‘Television Addict’ and comes away with one of best singalong songs on the album. ‘God is my Barber’ features the likes of God, St Peter, M&S and Steptoe in various roles across a hypnotic beat. Ska Punk shakes a skanking fist on ‘Turkey Teeth’ in a scathing attack on middle class life. ‘Hard Cheese’ might not be the most lyrically challenging of songs but damn that chorus is an earworm. Ending with a steadfast version of Buzzcocks ‘What Do I Get’, the band remind us that the perfect pop song does not need to be overly complicated. This a surprisingly fun album with plenty of hummable tunes that don’t outstay their welcome.

Releasing four interconnected albums in a day is surely a sign of lunacy, but when the albums have this much quality, maybe we should all be popping down to the Medway ourselves to grab a sample of those creative waters?

Thee Headcoats and Thee Headcoatees play two near sold out shows at Camden Electric Ballroom on March 12th and 13th 2027.

You can buy the albums here:

THEE HEADCOATS – Children Of The Sect

THEE HEADCOATEES – Ev’rybody’s Gonna Be Happy

Miss Ludella Black –  No One Makes A Fool Out Of Me

ARMITAGE SHANKS – Charge Of The Shite Brigade

Thee Headcoats – ‘Children of the Sect’

  1. The Medway Queen
  2. A Surprise to You (No Surprise to Me)
  3. Blind Blonde Hair
  4. Hacksaw
  5. Bo Diddley’s a Serial Killer
  6. Bring It To Jerome
  7. You Think You Know Me
  8. Children of the Sect
  9. The Reason We Didn’t Sound Like The Smiths
  10. One Horse Town
  11. Wyatt Earp
  12. Yellow Nosed Bastards
  13. Failure Not Success
  14. I Give Myself To You All


Thee Headcoatees – ‘Ev’rybody’s Gonna Be Happy’

  1. Ev’rybody’s Gonna Be Happy
  2. Miss Ludella Black
  3. Sex and Flies
  4. I Give Myself To You All
  5. Louie Louie
  6. Cadillac
  7. Shot Down
  8. I Wanna Be Your Girlfriend
  9. The Great Grandfather
  10. I’m Good Enough
  11. He’s Not Billie Eilish
  12. Mr. Pharmacist


Miss Ludella Black – ‘No One Makes A Fool Out Of Me’

  1. City of Shame
  2. My Heart’s Beating Faster
  3. She’ll Be Gone
  4. No One Makes A Fool Out Of Me
  5. Every Once in a While
  6. I Can’t Even Cry
  7. Why Don’t You Smile Now
  8. It’s My Affair
  9. I’LL Get Over Losing You
  10. Matchbox
  11. I Bear The Scars
  12. Felix (Keep on Walking)
  13. The Breaking Point of Love
  14. Seven Day Fool
  15. You Waster, You


Armitage Shanks – ‘Charge of The Shite Brigade’

  1. Thoughts of Violence
  2. Banned From the Shops
  3. Deny Me
  4. Sleep All Day
  5. Shy Bairns Get Nowt
  6. Uncontrollable Serge
  7. Television Addict (Jen Vocal)
  8. God is My Barber
  9. Brown Brown Booze
  10. Turkey Teeth
  11. What About Brian
  12. Hard Cheese
  13. They’re Not There
  14. What Do I Get?
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