The Thomas Function-Celebration

by Steven in Album Reviews, Musician Reviews, New Releases, Reviews, bands to watch

Do you remember that favorite local band in high school who you’d go see every other weekend with you girlfriend/boyfriend at the dingy warehouse/art space/basement?  Done?  Awesome.  Now…imagine how you would feel if that band were to suddenly, and quite dramatically, dis-band (haha…oh man) and try to start a new gimmick with more synthesizers and less punk rawk.  Done?  Not so great, right?  Especially not at an impressionable age when all you wanted to listen to was “Alabama Jihad,” a band that sounded as abrasive as their name suggested.  So, imagine my disdain when my small-town-wonder-band regrouped under the moniker “The Thomas Function” and stopped wearing uniforms at their shows.  An unhappy camper, I was.  But, 6 years and some awkward realizations later, I have to say that these boys from Bama clean up their sound quite nice.

Huntsville (aka Rocket City or Rock-it City or whatever), AL’s Thomas Function’s latest release, Celebration, follows a series of shorter 7″ singles that have found their way into my record collection in the past few years.  Upon a first listen, it’s easy to get hooked on the infectious, fun pop rock that this band sends your way.  Jangly guitars (but not too jangly) complement a strained (but not too strained) voice from lead man Josh Macero as the rest of the band follow his lead in providing an up-tempo blend of dance-able rock.  Throughout the record, the synth sounds aren’t as harsh/sharp as one might expect with this kind of 150+ bpm rock; rather the synth on the record has a bright, organ-ish tone while the keys arpeggiate gracefully in the midst of punchy chords and drum hits.  The punk influence is apparent in their sound as steady snare hits seem to lead most songs into driving guitar riffs and relatively simple solos.  However, unlike their punk predecessors, The Thomas Function have managed to find a way to funnel their energetic underpinnings into a sophisticated sound with rich harmonies and interesting chord progressions.  Macero’s voice seems to be made for the sounds that the band delivers, and his high-pitched yelps complement his guitar strums quite well.  

A few of the songs released on this debut LP are re-recordings of earlier singles, and even those are different enough mixes to make them just as exciting to listen to the second (or third or fifteenth) time around as they were the first.  In particular, the new mix of “Conspiracy of Praise” graces the ears with a cleaner lead guitar layered over a clearer drum beat to make this one of the stand-out tracks of the record.  In the same vein, the mixes of “Filthy Flowers” and “Relentless Machines,” previously only available to be streamed from the band’s myspace page, sound amazingly clean when the audio quality hasn’t be demolished a la myspace…

Oh, and by the way: have a listen to them HERE

In short, The Thomas Function deliver a fantastic debut full-length after a good run of teaser-7″-singles that had more-than-whetted my appetite for this bubbly (but not too bubbly) blend of upbeat (but not too upbeat) rock.  The only criticism?  The occasional departure from upbeat pop rock would have been wonderful.  Earlier recorded demos of slower tracks sounded greaaaat (”Earthworms,” I’m looking at you, buddy), and I wish the band would have done more with the slowly-drawn songs that I found so endearing.  Personally, I would have liked to see what Macero had to offer in terms of different styles of guitar playing (more picking, less strumming, maybe?)  Regardless, it’s a solid [read: amazing] album, and hopefully not the last.  On track two, Macero claims, “When you’re screaming my name, I can’t say no.”  Well, Thomas Function, I’m screaming yall’s name…metaphorically.  So keep at it.  The boys of Thomas Function have put my [teenage] heart through enough ache as it is…let’s hope that they show this angst-y collegiate heart of mine some home-town love.