Henry's Dress...

Henry’s Dress was a short lived noise-pop group that came together in the early 90’s to release a few seven inches, the Henry’s Dress EP, and their only full-length Bust ‘Em Green. They were both interesting for their music and the fact that members Amy Linton and Matt Hartman often switched between doing vocals/guitar and drums on their records, which proved to work quite well. Hayyim Sanchez remained on bass. In their earlier stages, the group was almost completely overblown with noise, as can be heard on their self-titled EP, which is drenched in feedback to the point of relegating the vocals to the background at times. However, I always kind of preferred this sound to what they would later do on Bust ‘Em Green. For their full-length they scaled back the feedback to some extent, but even so, they remained one of the nosier bands on Slumberland Records. Their overall sound was something, even at that time, built on a sense of nostalgia. The most obvious is probably the garage rock feel and sound in practically every song. However, the melodies and cheerful/poppy vocals from both Hartman and Linton were almost twee like, which wasn’t too far fetched considering the record label they were on. Even furthering this, before they broke up they released a tour split 7 inch with Rocketship, who could very easily be, and often were, considered twee. As it could be guessed, their album is much more catchy and poppy then their EP. However, both releases are great in their own respective rights.

Henry’s Dress EP:
Henry’s Dress – Definitely Nothing [MP3]
Henry’s Dress – (You’re My) Radio One [MP3]

Bust ‘Em Green:
Henry’s Dress – Target Practice [MP3]
Henry’s Dress – Jimmy [MP3]

As mentioned before, Henry’s Dress weren’t around for long. They broke up in 1997 after touring in support for Bust ‘Em Green. Amy Linton would soon form The Aisler’s Set after their break-up. I am pretty sure both of these releases are long out of print, so much that Bust ‘Em Green can be kind of pricey to obtain. Regardless, check eBay and the likes for either of these.

Bonus MP3 (Rocketship Tour 7 Inch):
Henry’s Dress – Over 21 [MP3]