Jody Seabody and the Whirls

In 2012, we spoke with local act, Jody Seabody and the Whirls, for the release of their debut full-length, Summer Us. But despite the fact that it's been nearly three years since its release, the group hasn't seemed to lose any traction when it comes to keeping their fans happy. If you've yet to listen to them, the Houston four-piece has garnered a reputation for being a band whose sound is hard to pin down, yet that seems to be what makes them so appealing. While most modern acts fit easily into a specific category or genre, Jody Seabody and the Whirls have found a way to dodge being pinned down while keeping their sound streamlined and coherent.


It's a tough balance to find, but with the release of their new single "Grassman," it seems that the group will dodge the sophomore-slump bullet on upcoming LP Holographic Slammer, due in another week or so on Houston's Artificial Head Records. Over the nine minutes of "Grassman," the group's sound flirts with psychedelic surf before falling into a heavier jam session. Although nine-minute tracks can often be hard to swallow, the Whirls have found a way to write a compelling track that never seems to lose momentum despite its length. We recently asked the Whirls' drummer, Clint Rater, to talk about the nine-song Slammer before the group takes the stage Saturday night at the Alley Kat Bar & Lounge on Mid-Main.

Houston Press: Where have you guys been for so long?

Clint Rater: We have been touring, recording, writing and filling our bass position with handsome and talented gentlemen. Dylan Thompson plays bass on the album but departed in mid-August. We have our old friend Stuart Cooper on bass now.

Since Summer Us was released, you've teamed up with Artificial Head Records. How did that relationship get started?

Our relationship with Artificial Head came about by playing shows with Art Institute, whose guitarist, Paul Chavez, runs the label.

Holographic Slammer is available for pre-order on vinyl. Right now we only have one (nine-minute) song, so tell us a little about the rest of the album.

The album is a reflection of our eclectic influences, as well as a conceptual assessment of death and feelings associated with being out of control.

Jody Seabody and the Whirls Are Back In Action On 'Holographic Slammer'
"Grassman" has already sold me, but it's admittedly unusual to hear a single that takes you on this kind of journey. How did you guys choose this single?

We picked it because it best reflected the eclectic mix on the album.

You guys actually have a sort of reputation for being eclectic. Why do you think that is?

We've had lots of chances to be a part of different scenes. We could have played strictly hardcore or gotten in with the metal or Indie crowds, but to me, punk/hardcore was always about doing what feels good to you and being original. If we played to the scene, we would be going against what those "scenes" are about. By being eclectic and original, we may not get as many fans, but we are more punk than the guys who play to a sea of people dressed like them.

That makes sense. I also don't think you guys would be as successful as you are by walking those lines evenly. That said, Holographic Slammer seems to be simultaneously in tune with, as well as a step away from, Summer Us, stylistically speaking. Aside from the loss of your bassist, how have you approached this release differently?

We approached this album as kind of like it were a photo album. The first track, "Two Atmospheres," was recorded in 2008. Then several of the tracks were recorded in-studio, while others were recorded at our rehearsal space. We wanted different sounds and feelings throughout. Also, this time we are on a label!

You guys are also releasing this album on a "painfully limited edition" colored vinyl. What will it look like, and how many copies are we talking?
We don't now what crazy colors Paul picked for the vinyl, but there probably be only about 300 copies. Thanks to the Internet, though, our album will always be around for people to enjoy.

Jody Seabody and the Whirls will perform tomorrow night at Alley Kat Bar & Lounge (3718 Main) with Jealous Creatures and Giant Kitty. Their official Holographic Slammer album-release and tenth-anniversary is scheduled for AvantGarden on December 5. - Houston Press

It’s highly unlikely you’re going to find anything this year that matches up to the sheer exuberance and craziness that Jody Seabody & The Whirls give on this second album, Holographic Slammer. Throwing in everything from jangly indie guitar pop, hardcore punk to full blown Pink Floyd freak outs with more than an ounce of joyful abandon, you could be forgiven for thinking that your mind was about to overload with musical mayhem. Hardly subtle, they do have a tremendous gift in song-writing that harks back to the heady days of the 60’s when Love were just thinking about making Forever Changes.
Hailing from Houston, Texas, that areas psych and garage rock roots certainly take formation in this album and as you traverse its many avenues you hear fragments of conversations from all those years that continue to haunt the minds of every acid fried person who ever walked the earth. It’s a freedom in the music which helps unlock your mind and channels it into hitherto unknown places. Heady psych of top grade.

After a slight opener which owes more to the acid folk of Nick Drake than Roky Eriksson it’s full engines on for the nine minute ‘Grassman’. All whirling noises that cause a merry go round of emotion before being swept on some high reverie only to be pulled back down with a Floydian blues guitar solo, it eventually drifts off leaving you wondering just what you have heard. To put into words is practically impossible without generic markers and as such needs to be experienced.

‘You Always Come In Twos’ is uplifting sonic pop immersed in sun-soaked psych whilst ‘Summery Zen’ channels everything good about jangly college rock. Both are remarkably different in sound yet share a similar notion which runs as a thread throughout this album. Indeed, as things get even more “out there” further on with the hardcore punk of ‘Charlemagne pt1′ and ‘Charlemagne pt2′ you can still feel that essence of life throwing you around its ever widening circles yet always keeping a gravitational pull towards its centre. The centre this time being Jody Seabody & The Whirls.
‘Fucked Up Adventurous’ ends the album with another short stab of snotty punk and marks a complete turn from how the album began. It’s end coda drifts off in a smash of drums as the guitar rolls on and the bass rumbles out of control. Much like this album, it’s a song let loose off the tethers, but no way in need of being reigned in. You get the feeling that this band don’t really give a shit about what people think and for that you have to give them the utmost respect. A remarkably brilliant album which may just enter itself as a late runner in the album of the year lists. - Echoes and Dust

It can be difficult to find stoner and psych bands these days that trade in anything too original, so the everything-but-the-kitchen-sink approach of Jody Seabody and the Whirls' Holographic Slammer is refreshing, to say the least. Jody and co. trek through numerous different styles on this album, often throwing an array of potentially clashing ideas into the same song. The result is an imaginative record that throws genres around with abandon but somehow still manages to retain a sense of cohesion.
The technicolour splurge of the album cover suggests a groovier-than-thou '60's boogie psych throwback whilst the the acoustic opener of "Two Atmospheres" sign-posts a record of likable lo-fi singer-songwriter jams. As if to prove something of a point, the next track, "The Grassman", is a lengthy jam that has its roots in the far-out blues of the early '70s, but spreads its pallet out as far as The Doors and the heavy stoner rock of Sleep. Attempts to compare Jody Seabody and the Whirls to any one band are ultimately futile. Comparisons to other better known bands are frequent but fleeting. At times Pink Floyd is brought to mind whilst at other times any number of groovy stoner doom bands come to mind.
What sets Jody Seabody and the Whirls apart from the million and one other psych bands doing the rounds at the moment is that Holographic Slammer is an ultimately song-centric album. Only on "The Grassman" do the band really let themselves go, and this is no bad thing. Jamming can be great, but a set of tightly-performed tracks whose arrangements exist mainly to serve the song can also be rewarding, and this is essentially what Holographic Slammer consists of.
Holographic Slammer is an individual record - while certain songs and moments strongly bring to mind bands of the past, this collection is diverse enough to not sound like any one band all the way through, and ultimately makes for a fresh, enjoyable listen.
~ Martin

For fans of; Pink Floyd, The Doors, Sleep, Jimi Hendrix, Country Joe & The Fish - The Burning Beard

It is commonplace for bands to state their admiration and inspiration from a wide range of influences and styles, and rightly so, ranging from the classics to lesser known and the newer, but very few can take such a multitude and clearly work them into their fabric. Houston, Texas based Jody Seabody & The Whirls are one such esoteric example that have taken a wide palette and concocted what is an undoubtedly barmy concoction.

The cover for second album Holographic Slammer (Artificial Head) suitably illustrates the colourful, complex and multi-layered proceedings with its 60’s style, vivid psychedelic artwork; and proves a throwback to many of the influences on show. Album opener ‘Two Atmospheres’ is a short number, which clearly resembles some of The Beatles more avant-garde catalogue, before ‘Grassman’ opens up into a huge sonic range from Electric Light Orchestra vocal lines, psychedelic fuzz and prog rock’s unconventional time signatures. Later on there are even nods to Fleetwood Mac and blues rock, before both parts of ‘Charlemagne’ and album closer ‘Fucked Up Adventurous’ turns you on your head with a raw, punk like sound ala Black Flag, changing without warning or easing whatsoever.

Surprisingly, this off-kilter change of pace works very well, adding an extra dimension to the album and keeping in line with the band’s quirky and obscure nature, which shows that nothing is off limits to them. This may not invoke any real new sounds or styles as such, but on Holographic Slammer they have skipped genre boundaries and formed something that is progressive in its scope.



7.0/10



CHRIS TIPPELL - Ghost Cult Magazine

Jody Seabody & The Whirls es una de las bandas más representativas del garage psych del underground norteamericano teniendo bajo sus manos un sonido único e impecable lleno de texturas que se sienten echas con mucho fervor y entusiasmo llevándolo en cada uno de sus trabajos.

La historia de la banda nace en el High School cuando esos jóvenes comenzaron a grabar canciones por el 2004 y 2005, piezas que fueron publicadas en el Jody Seabody & The Whirls Sing Songs en el 2012. En ese mismo año sacaron a la luz su primer LP llamado “Summer Us” y que tuvo un gran impacto en algunos críticos del garage rock y el psych underground y sesentero.

Ahora llegan a nosotros con “Holographic Slammer”, 40 minutos de pura belleza instrumental y vocal que inicia con “Two Atmospheres”, acústica de 2 minutos en los que podemos apreciar la gran creatividad musical de estos muchachos que a la hora de tocar sus instrumentos sueltan todo el amor al arte. Este álbum me impacto desde la primera escuchar por esas armonías vocales y esa voz poderosa y lúcida que acompaña todo el álbum. “Grassman” es el segundo talismán de este disco, con ese toque y sonido único que ellos manejan, riffs movedizos y una voz que brota toda la fuerza de esta banda. Jody Seabody & The Whirls Band“You Always Come In Twos” inicia con un intro hecho por el teclado transformándose en lo que será la línea musical de la canción, escalas hechas por el bajo y la guitarra entran en nuestros oídos y el downtempo de la batería nos quiebra nuestra alma. “Summery Zen” es la cuarta canción del álbum, con 5 minutos de duración nos entrega toda esa creatividad musical que manejan Bryce Perkins, Dave Merriett, Clint Rater y Stuart Cooper, 4 muchachos que pueden crear piezas musicales totalmente maravillosas y pegajosas, “Rake One” tiene una onda muy country y folclórico de Estados Unidos en su estructura, 4 minutos que se convierten en una travesía por el campo cálido y libre de alguna pradera en algún lugar del mundo.

“Battle” es la primera de las grandes cuatro piezas finales del disco, con una progresión de notas que se convierten en una especie de clímax exótico dentro de nuestro ente y que se prepara para lo siguiente que es “Charlemagne Pt. 1” y “Charlemagne Pt. 2”, dos piezas únicas y totalmente caseras que es por lo que está compuesta la música, con un riff muy garaje 60’s y con ese toque de batería cambiadizo que va de lento a veloz y de veloz a lento crean un compendio de grandeza y luminosidad en el álbum. “Fucked Up Adventurous” cierra el álbum y tal vez es la más cercana a sus anteriores trabajos; sucio, movedizo, distorsionado hecho con pasión y amor al buen rock, recordando esas épocas en la que el rock era cultura y no simplemente algo para vender. - Lahabitacion235.com

I took to listening to Jody Seabody & The Whirls more on a whim then anything else. A first brief listen to their sound provoked some interest as did the name and the album art. First, there's no Jody Seabody. Actually, there's no chick in the band whatsoever. At least not that I could tell. Maybe she's hiding behind an amplifier. Just four dudes from Houston, but channeling music from the Haight-Ashbury district of San Fransisco in 1969.
Jody Seabody & The Whirls Holographic Slammer Photo
Jody Seabody & The Whirls
The Whirls' music is a fusion of classic melodic rock, psychedelic rock, some country and stoner stuff too, and it's all cast in this lo-fi garage rock atmosphere. Additionally, listening to some of the twists and turns of Grassman or Battle, you might hear a nod to progressive rock. What you will catch, undoubtedly, is some exceptional guitar work, a combination of solid riffs and solos, both electric and acoustic. Sometimes, a lot of times, Seabody goes with that fuzzed and spaced out groove common to the psych rock genre. Then, just to make things even weirder, with Charlemagne Pt. 1 & 2,the band takes those same riffs, makes them more raw and crunchy, and then stirs them into a punk, near hardcore, motif. In terms of overall "sound" it's probably the grittiest garage rocker of the bunch. In some sense, you might call The Whirls' music eclectic. While hardly novel, it's definitely interesting and worth a turn in your iPod, if anybody uses those anymore. - dangerdog.com

Οι έξοχοι Jody Seabody and the Whirls προέρχονται από το Χιούστον του Τέξας, όπου και σχηματίστηκαν το 2009 κι απαρτίζονται από 4 ταλαντούχους μουσικούς, που δεν φοβούνται να πειραματιστούν, όπως άλλωστε αποδεικνύει κι ο νέος τους δίσκος, Holographic Slammer, ο οποίος πρόκειται να κυκλοφορήσει από την Artificial Head Records τον ερχόμενο Νοέμβρη.

Το εν λόγω άλμπουμ περιέχει εννέα κομμάτια συνολικής διάρκειας 42 λεπτών, ενώ διακρίνεται για το πολύχρωμο artwork του, που μαρτυρά την ψυχεδέλεια της περιπετειώδους μουσικής των Jody Seabody and the Whirls και ξεχωρίζει για την αψεγάδιαστη παραγωγή του, η οποία αναδεικνύει τις απολαυστικές και χορταστικές συνθέσεις του εξαίρετου Holographic Slammer.

Η ταξιδιάρικη διάθεση του έξοχου Holographic Slammer διαφαίνεται από τις πρώτες κιόλας νότες του, που μας ταξιδεύουν σε ξεθωριασμένα surf rock ηχοτοπία κι εδραιώνεται από την συνέχεια του, που μας βρίσκει σε ψυχεδελικά punk σοκάκια μεθυσμένους από τις ηλεκτρισμένες pop ατασθαλίες και τις έντονες progressive rock αναφορές των Jody Seabody and the Whirls.

Τα σκανδαλιάρικα blues ξεσπάσματα των εντυπωσιακών Jody Seabody and the Whirls μας βυθίζουν σε μια vintage δίνη με garage αιχμές κι έπειτα με περισσή μαεστρία μας ξεβράζουν σε χρωματιστά heavy rock μονοπάτια έντονης fuzz ευωδίας, ενώ τα ισχνά funk ηχοχρώματα του Holographic Slammer, μαρτυρούν τον αυθορμητισμό και το jam μεράκι των δημιουργών του.

Ο αχνός ambient καπνός, που σαν πέπλο καλύπτει το Holographic Slammer, σκεπάζει την σχεδόν ανεπαίσθητη post hardcore αύρα του αρμονικά και καθιστά μαγευτική την υφέρπουσα ψυχεδέλεια retro rock αισθητικής, που το διαπερνά, ενώ αναδεικνύει τον συνθετικό κι εκτελεστικό οίστρο των Jody Seabody and the Whirls κι απογειώνει επίσης την αχαλίνωτη έμπνευση τους.

Εν ολίγοις, εδώ έχουμε να κάνουμε με ένα ποικίλο και πλούσιο μουσικό άλμπουμ, που θαρρώ ότι θα εντυπωσιάσει όσους το ακούσουν με την ηχητική και στιβαρή του ειλικρίνεια και με το συμπαγές ταμπεραμέντο του, μιας και το μαγευτικό Holographic Slammer των εξαιρετικών Jody Seabody and the Whirls, στάζει αδρεναλίνη και ξεχειλίζει rock συναίσθημα. Φανταστικό. - Phantasmagoria

Brillante fusione del significato più profondo e vero di un’era, un’aggregazione tra simboli di anime variegate. Legami multipli ed essenze ri-distillate. Fuori dal controllo sonico inizia il precipitare di una massa inebriante che penetra ogni angolo di creatività: rock psichedelico, classico, spruzzate folk e pungenti lame stoner. Neoimpressionismo in irregolari frammenti lo-fi. jodyband
Jody Seabody & The Whirls, ragazzi di Houston che si specchiano nel patrimonio acido di scatole e sussurri garage, si muovono dopo gli esordi digitali e il primo album “Summer Us”, in continue esplorazioni, ubriacati da ricordi che stordiscono piacevolmente producendo uno stato di esaltazione carnale. Le anime che plasmano “Holographic Slammer” sono preziose. Nel dinamismo tagliente e acuto si alzano folate di “Out Here” o “Forever Changes” dei Love, vorticando tra menti culturalmente evolute dal refolo caldo dei due chitarristi Dave Merriett e Bryce Perkins.
posterQuasi si muovesse uno strato organico, propagato da continui arricchimenti tradizionali, irrompono momenti contaminati che approdano a tensioni potenti. L’irreverente ‘Two Atmosphere’ o ‘Rake One’ raccolgono trasognate delizie BJM e sacrificano la dimensione acustica in concetti complessi, esercitati nella sfolgorante ‘Grassman’ dove convivono le alchimie più evidenti. Affinità prog tra scatti hard, annodati da un assolo floydiano di rara bellezza. E pure ‘Battle’ assorbe le stesse infezioni similari pur concentrando una sintesi elettrica che deflagra in ‘Summery Zen’, scuoiata da magie stile Abraxas e ‘You Always Come in Twos’, gioiello spiritato in fuzz urticanti. Quando la mente si immerge in solchi delineati il clima cambia, spolpando ossa e tendini e arroventando ‘Charlemagne Part 1 & 2’. Punk grigiastro che sfonda nell’hardcore, polveri di primi UK Subs. Stessa traccia furiosa ‘Fucked Up Adventurous’ innestata e conclusa da rovesci heavy prog, confermando l’atteggiamento flessibile della band.0000471733_100
Sublime la veste grafica creata dalla leggendaria Marijke Koger-Dunham, il Texas attraverso un fluoroscopio, immerso da ancestralità mitologiche, floride sinfonie, desuetudine contrastata da fuzz e sgargianti distorsioni.
Eufonia gocciolata in ogni nota. - PleniROCKium

Just from looking at the cover of this one I had an idea that Jody & his Whirls are somewhere deep in Ty Segall territory and I don't think I'm wrong, although after the acoustic harmonising of first track 'Two Atmospheres' I get the idea that the band, none of whom are actually called Jody and whose album is released on the spectacularly named Artificial Head label, are on a heavier vibe than that of Ty Segall's archly turned freakouts. If there's one influence I can hear on 'Holographic Slammer' then it's a 70s Prog Rock band whose name sort of escapes me, as second teack 'Grassman' clocks in at over nine minutes sounding like the long lost collaboration between proto-grunge bluesmeisters Ten Years After and the fully be-robed and massively overindulgent sound of Yes in their 'Close To The Edge' heyday. Stirring stuff, and expertly handled by a band of whom I find myself asking 'are there really only four of them?'

'You Only Come In Twos' keeps the momentum flying with its combination of crunching guitars and soaring keyboards, and Lennonesque phrasing. This is what it was supposed to sound like, runs the subtext, and 'Summery Zen' and 'Rake One' and then 'Battle' take things away from the Prog thing that Jody Seabody & The Whirls are really quite good at, to a more contemporary sound that's part garage Punk and part west coast singer songwriting, although by the end of 'Battle' I'm starting to think that JS&TW are just playing whatever they want to, purposefully mixing their musical styles to confuse record shop staff that won't know exactly under which description to file them, and 'Charlemagne Pt 1 and 2' and lastly 'F*cked Up Adventurous' just confirm that the Jody Seabodies are only in it for the noise quotient, and stuff what anyone else thinks.Of course we would all enjoy it a lot more if they made an album that was entirely based on the music of mid 70s supergroups. Wouldn't we? - tastyfanzine

"Losing a band member can't ever be an especially pleasant experience, but the sudden death of one of your musical comrades, someone you've been playing with since high school, is almost unfathomable. But that's what happened to Katy alt-rockers Jody Seabody & the Whirls last fall, when bassist Matt Johnston passed away in November at only age 23.
Johnston left a wife and two young children behind, and also Summer Us, the album of '90s-leaning guitar rock (Oasis, RHCP, Nirvana) the Whirls had recently finished recording. After some consideration they decided to go ahead and put it out, and recruited another old friend, Dylan Thompson, to play bass. Saturday night, the Whirls play a release show at Fitzgerald's (downstairs) with Art Institute, Kyle Hubbard and Jon Black; it's free, but donations go to Johnston's family." -Chris Gray - Houston Press

"Losing a band member can't ever be an especially pleasant experience, but the sudden death of one of your musical comrades, someone you've been playing with since high school, is almost unfathomable. But that's what happened to Katy alt-rockers Jody Seabody & the Whirls last fall, when bassist Matt Johnston passed away in November at only age 23.
Johnston left a wife and two young children behind, and also Summer Us, the album of '90s-leaning guitar rock (Oasis, RHCP, Nirvana) the Whirls had recently finished recording. After some consideration they decided to go ahead and put it out, and recruited another old friend, Dylan Thompson, to play bass. Saturday night, the Whirls play a release show at Fitzgerald's (downstairs) with Art Institute, Kyle Hubbard and Jon Black; it's free, but donations go to Johnston's family." -Chris Gray - Houston Press

"Jody Seabody & The Whirls, how do I begin? It was almost instant that I became a fan. These guys, hailing from Katy, have an electrifying sound that if played in the morning will start your day off right. I know this from experience. I found myself sitting in the coffee shop in my own world, dancing to their song “Doll”(…which I believe is about a blow up doll?) Yeah so that totally happened and I plan to be front row at their Summer Fest performance. No worries, I’ll be throwing up my “H” in the air so you know it’s me! Take it away Jody Seabody & The Whirls…." - prettyriot.com

"...Listening to Jody Seabody and The Whirls, though, I can’t help but rock out to Bryce Perkins’ and Dave Merriett’s fiery, rough-edged, bluesy guitars (even when they go into extended solos), Matt Johnston’s nimble basslines, and Clint Rater’s thumping, solid drumming. Bluesier tracks like “Lone Tree/Bled Out” or the stoner-rock-style “Eating Young” come off the best, at least to my ears, but the more firmly psych-rock stuff (like “Fire Fire,” which hits some Beatlesque notes in the verse and shifts into something almost post-punk for the bridge, or the guitar heroics of closer “Stereo Ghost”) sounds surprisingly great, as well." - spacecityrock.com

"...Obviously, his loss hit the rest of the band hard, and they’ve been taking some time to mourn and figure out what to do next. Per guitarist Bryce Perkins, they weren’t even sure Jody Seabody would continue in its current form, or if they’d move on to something else entirely.
With that in mind, I’m glad to get a little bit of good news from the Seabody camp, namely that they’ve decided to soldier on as Jody Seabody & The Whirls and actually do a real release of Summer Us. Which, at least to me, is pretty great to hear — these guys are a heck of a promising, interesting band, and I really would’ve hated to see them break up." -Jeremy Hart - spacecityrock.com

JODY SEABODY AND THE WHIRLS: Okay, so this is going to sound bad, but I didn’t mean to see Jody Seabody and The Whirls. I wandered down the hill towards what turned out to be the Super Happy Fun Land Stage because I was, um, a little lost; I thought it was the 29-95 Stage, which was where The Manichean were supposed to be playing, but I’d totally misread the map and headed to the wrong stage. Whoops! It ended up a happy accident, though, because I have been wanting to see these guys for quite a while now, having really liked what I’ve heard online.

Live, they were surprisingly funky and classic rock-tinged, not quite what I was expecting — I’d thought they were heavier, somehow, more metal/punk and less boogie. But hell, they were still pretty entertaining, in a who-gives-a-shit-let’s-rock kind of way. Right before I had to head back up the hill, one of the guys in the band jokingly declared that it wasn’t the climate that made H-town hot, but the people: “The reason Houston is the hottest city because we’re here!” I’m down with that. - Spacecityrock.com

Psychedelic music is dead? Don’t tell that to Jody Seabody and the Whirls, who obviously didn’t get the memo. But their fans aren’t complaining, and if you’re a fan of The Mars Volta or psych-garage in general, you won’t either.

- Houston Press

Last but not least, Jody Seabody and The Whirls have been impressing me more & more each time I’ve heard ‘em. They’re a bit different from the other folks on the bill — definitely louder, that’s for sure, and less dramatic — but still recommended.

- SpaceCityRock.com

Another band I’m supremely pissed that I’ll be missing are noise-rockers Woven Bones who, to my ears, play a poppier, more accessible, version of the Jesus and Mary Chain. Jody Seabody and the Whirls will be coming to Super Happy Fun Land that night too and I’ve met them all in person and listened to their music and must say that I approve. The songs are slightly trippy but never meander. Go support them unless you want to go watch the ridiculous, rapping, scene kid, drag-queen-from-hell, Jeffree Starr at The Warsaw. I think I’d have to recommend the former.

- FreePressHouston.com

JODY SEABODY & THE WHIRLS: Really liking what I've heard of these guys (and no, there is no actual "Jody," as far as I can tell. Raw, somewhat messy, metal-tinged rawk with lots of yelling and almost bluesy-sounding riffs -- they come off like the Foo Fighters at points, but there's really more of an retro-rock thing going on. (Oh, and these guys are one of only a handful of local Houston bands playing the Fest, just fyi...) - Space City Rock.com

Musically, this band has found a perfect balance between indie rock and pop sensibilities, which leaves everyone pleased with the results. The base of the songwriting is rooted in the traditions established by Dinosaur Jr. and Black Sabbath. This means that they combine heavy riffing in anthems that one can sing along with. Conversely, their influences are as eclectic as their sound. They enjoy listening to everything from Mozart to Fugazi, Fleetwood Mac, or even Michael Jackson. For the Whirls are not concerned with confining themselves in a certain genre; they are concerned with entertainment at it's finest. - Houstonian Online

I met up with members of Jody Seabody and the Whirls after touring 226 and upon getting back to my computer I’ve given them a listen and they’re awesome. The Whirls play some good, old-fashioned, garage-rock with an appealing DIY sound to it. - Free Press Houston

Jody Seabody & the Whirls: Houstonian psych-rockers who form a missing link between the glory days of International Artists Records and latter-day descendants like The Mars Volta. (Thursday, March 11, midnight) - Houston Press