The Gingerbread Men Witches House CD
GINGERBREAD MEN were one of my favorite ’80s Boston bands. Witches House was recorded in 1987 and was supposed to be their debut album, but due to the usual band nonsense it was never released. They did release two 7″s back then and all four songs are included here. Catchy, poppy garage rock with a flavoring of college rock and early hardcore influences. The lyrics are fun and funny. “Happy Squirrel” from their first 7” is an immediate standout. It has a cool MISSION OF BURMA sound with humorously morbid lyrics: “My heart beats a rhythm like a twisted rhyme / When I saw her hopping on the power line / And then the flash I knew she was fried.” Yikes! Catchy and twisted! There’s a lot of that here: “Day Job, Night Band,” “That Ain’t Your Car,” “Battle Bones.” A vinyl version will be out in early 2021, but the CD version has eight bonus tracks.