Caddywhompus – The Weight
I went certifiably insane for the last/debut Caddywhompus record, Remainder. Seriously, there are few records over a year old that still get that much playtime from me. Then two months ago, courtesy of Chinquapin & Community Records, they dropped a new single called “Age Of Wild Spirits” and it was killer. Got me totally stoked for the upcoming The Weight, which, just like Remainder is free of charge, meaning you should go download that shit STAT (or better yet, drop some $$$ on it and hold it IRL). Then when The Weight came around, I discovered it only has 4 songs, one of which we’d already heard. Mega-bummer. BUT WAIT this is Caddy-fuckin-whompus and The Weight is still one of the best mathy noise-pop albums to come out this year so fucking HOORAY.
I don’t really want to recycle the same comparisons from before, but they’re still quite approriate. There’s Zach Hill drum love affairs, Dodos style vocals, the blistering nastiness of Oxes, and fuckit throw in some Deerhoof because what’s a noise-pop review without mention of them. But what makes Caddywhompus BETTER than all of those bands is their absolutely brilliant songwriting, every song being a straightup earworm, and having the best fucking mix of abrasion & bliss. Every song has me simultaneously air drumming & guitaring while flailing uncontrollably during the massive breakdowns, where they’re able to maintain a beautiful pop charm right alongside the thrashing & squawking.
I’m pretty sure The Weight is a step in a slightly more refined Caddywhompus sound, but I honestly can’t tell you what that step is because I’m too fucking distracted by the unmatched awesomeness being laid down. Plus I’m wayyy too busy listening to this to bother to go back and compare it to Remainder. When The Weight is playing, everything else becomes second rate, including previous Caddywhompus records.
I wish there was something, anything I could do to make Caddywhompus stand out even more. They deserve the highest praise and arena sized audiences freaking out to their totally fucking killer anthems. It blows my mind that I’m trying to hype this band because that means they don’t already have it. WTF is wrong with all of you? It is now your duty to tell every goddamn friend of yours about Caddywhompus and make sure they all own a copy of Remainder and The Weight.