Caddywhompus – Feathering A Nest (2014)

To satiate your curiosity, Merriam-Webster and the gods of Spellcheck do not yet consider the word ‘caddywhompus’ to be part of the English Language, but Urban Dictionary describes a caddywhompus as “crooked, uneven, broken, ass-backwards and sideways“. My first impression of Caddywhompus’s Feathering A Nest was everything but the descriptors listed above; this New Orleans duo can write densely textured and complex songs that do not sacrifice professional craftsmanship. Under the frequent splashy shrill of cymbals and chunky riffs there is a lithe of intellect, combinations of layers adding up to say more than is presented.

2011’s The Weight resembled a stereotypically young indie/math band: poppy and amateurish in concision, playful nonetheless. But three years on, you can hear and feel the growth of Caddywhompus. The vernal roughness, organic in nature, that pervades every song is testament to ground-level expansion, and is rare in pop-ish math. In the nearly ten minute track ‘Layers’, in my opinion a masterpiece, you can hear riff, drum, and vocal elements of Adebisi Shank and the The Dodos. Admittedly, I generally despise noise and psychedelic rock, but Caddywhompus have managed to, without any vitiation, transfuse math, indie, dream, psychedelic, and noise into an amalgamation that I find to be an apotheosis of stylish innovation. I really dig Feathering A Nest and I am excited to see where Caddywhompus evolves from here.