Thee Hypnotics

Thee Hypnotics (l to r): Mark Thompson (drums), Jim Jones (vocals & harp), Will Pepper (bass), Ray Hanson (guitar)

Thee Hypnotics playlist

Contributor: Ann Sequinworld

Thee Hypnotics were one of those late 80s/early 90s bands that dug deep into the roots of rock, filling the gap between alternative rock and metal with their retro-garage sound. Originally from High Wycombe, they set about tearing up the local scene before spreading their disease across the UK, Europe and beyond. Three parts loose ‘n’ loud garage rock, one part grungedelic progpunk, Thee Hypnotics produced the kind of uplifting vibe that most of the big-league rock ‘n’ rollers had lost years ago, and most of the newer bar-room gutter rock and tripped-out psyche revivalists could only dream of (from Phil Smith’s documentary “Soul Trading” – see trailer at the foot of this post).

Thee Hypnotics were amongst the fuzziest, nastiest and loudest bunch of Stooges loving hooligans you could ever meet, a mixture of heavy as hell riffs and cooler than f**k attitude.

I hope you enjoy these ten tracks and go on to explore the rest of Thee Hypnotics catalogue.

REVOLUTION STONE – Come Down Heavy (1990)
“A band that has captured that rock & roll genie in a bottle.”

SHAKEDOWN – Soul, Glitter & Sin (1991)
“The sound of sonic quantum physics splashes down in a bad-ass bar-room to boogie hard, courtesy of some up-tempo good vibes stompery that carves and cuts its groove.”

SOUL TRADER – Live’r Than God (1989)
“A track so heavy that you can hear it ploughing furrows into your ears while its unstoppable momentum builds and builds.”

FLOATIN’ IN MY HOODOO DREAM – Soul, Glitter & Sin (1991)
“The liquid blues/rock bong-water is punctuated by herculean drum salvos.”

(LET IT) COME DOWN HEAVY – Come Down Heavy (1990)
“Presses down on the senses like 20,000 leagues of heavy water.”

JUSTICE IN FREEDOM – Come Down Heavy (1990)
“Insurrectionists.”

SOUL ACCELERATOR – Soul, Glitter & Sin (1991)
“Like Elvis possessed by Howlin’ Wolf fronting The Stooges.”

ALL NIGHT LONG – Live’r Than God (1989)
“Big dirty guitar riffs and an all over heavy groove.”

THE GIRL’S ALL MINE – Motor City Madness (1988)
“Swirling layers of grunge, a sonic amalgam.”
(Motor City Madness is a compilation album of tracks written in tribute to Iggy and the Stooges and released on the German label Glitterhouse Records in 1988)

ALL MESSED UP – Come Down Heavy (1990)
“Old school heavy psych fuzz.”

Trailer for Soul Trading – the film by Thee Hypnotics drummer Phil Smith – a lysergic cocktail of death, sex and misadventure

Thee Hypnotics (l to r): Will Pepper, Ray Hanson, Jim Jones, Phil Smith

Thee Hypnotics split in 1999. A reunion was announced in January 2018 followed by an extensive series of European gigs (see clip below), the last four of which were in support of Mudhoney in the UK in Nov/Dec 2018.

For those interested in this kind of thing, you’ll find a fascinating thread – “What is the provenance of ‘Thee’ in Garage Rock band names? .. and for that matter, who were the first to use it?” on Steve Hoffman’s Music Forums and here on Language Log and this may be the first band to have gone with ‘Thee’ and the reason why!

Thee Hypnotics official website

Thee Hypnotics discography

Black Moses discography

The Jim Jones Revue (Wikipedia)

Ray ‘Sonic’ Hanson’s Whores Of Babylon

Thee Hypnotics biography (Apple Music)

Ann loves the psychedelic music of the 80s/90s. In between gigs, she runs her own business, Sequin World and Bead Monster. This is her third post for the site; the first two on Loop and The Heads, others are in the pipeline. You can follow her on twitter @ann_sequinworld and other social media sites.

The quotes above are from reviews at the time of each record’s release, paraphrased here and there and attached to a song. This was a cut-up process and the quote may not originally have been about that particular song but … you know what … it doesn’t matter because it works.

TopperPost #814