WVAU’s #10 Album of 2014: Caddywhompus – Feathering A Nest

Cameron Stewart


Courtesy of Community Records.

Despite their makeup of mere guitar, drums, and vocals, New Orleans duo Caddywhompus covers a jaw-dropping amount of sonic and structural ground in six songs. The pair can sustain musical movements such as the title track, which shifts from bombastic drums and gigantic chords to delicate fingerpicking and falsetto accompaniment.

Feathering A Nest finds Caddywhompus find themselves jumping between these two musical extremes, each sequential segment more blissfully ethereal or crunching than its predecessor. The best moments of the album often come when these two poles are mashed together. “Company‰” showcases sludgy, chugging chords that back the singsong “I‰’m your dream lover‰” refrain as percussion builds tension before a release that few acts can follow.

Caddywhompus seems to have found a sweet spot in their songwriting ‰ÛÒ ideas are established, developed, perfected, and discarded with the utmost efficiency. They‰’re short enough to repel boredom or complacency, but long enough for their seeds to bear fruit.

Instrumentals are technical without being masturbatory and spastic outbursts keep from muddying their sunny hooks. Feathering A Nest is twisting ride through loud and pretty, curated by two wonderfully talented musicians that are still hitting their stride after countless years in each other‰’s presence.

For your streaming pleasure: