Wicked Good Scene

Album Review: The Thickness – Karaoke Headliner

with Gio

The Thickness aren’t from Cali? Based in a city on the opposite corner of the country from their heroes, The Thickness bring a sunnier sound to Boston’s cold, dingy soul. Their new EP Karaoke Headliner boasts influence from bands like NOFX, Face to Face, Strung Out, and Rise Against with an overall tone that certainly lives up to their name. Karaoke Headliner has an even “thicker” sound than their previous releases. Lightning fast strums, punk drums and bleeding gums make this an exciting release for Boston’s ever-growing, ever-diversifying music scene.

This five-song EP offers two really good punk anthems that wouldn’t sound out of place on a Fat Wreck Chords compilation, the first being the opening track, “Proclamation.” The chorus on this one is undoubtedly catchy with creative use of gang vocals behind frontman, Tiny. His is a name which, in this case, is used in the same way as Curly from The Three Stooges or Frank Beard from ZZ Top (the only guy without a huge beard). Some may be turned off by Tiny’s voice, but in my opinion he expertly uses a classic skate-punk timbre in a way that is very much his own. The song also showcases the band’s ability to evoke movement; I can visualize plenty of punkers bouncing around to this tune, and undoubtedly challenging deed.

Another highlight is the song “Leave Narcissism to the Experts,” which cites the futility of Facebook, a very punk rock move. Here, the “experts” may as well represent “the Man.” The song, in turn, acts as a reminder for us to hold onto integrity. Just my guess. Since questioning authority and steering away from the norm is definitively punk, I do question why they refer to themselves on their MySpace as a comedy band; satire and sarcasm is funny and all, but it can also be pretty badass (case in point: Kurt Vonnegut).

The rest of the album is not bad at all, but doesn’t quite compete with “Proclamation” and “Narcissism.”  “Loaded Gun” can become repetitive and “Lose My Head” is a little vanilla despite superb musicianship; drummer SIDEchief Ben’s fills took me by surprise and I can hear the Berklee influence in the guitar-work of Mo’licious and Rev. Tremendous. I do like “Planter” though, which is pretty metal at times with its palm-muting and strategically placed pinch harmonics. I may be biased though, as metal was a huge part of my early high school years.

Karaoke Headliner is a very strong effort from these guys, keeping their place as one of the hottest acts to see in Boston. And I do recommend seeing The Thickness live; I got the chance to see them in a basement in Allston, and despite the acoustics, the band was massively entertaining and needless to say, blew me away.  Come out and support them at their CD release show where they officially drop this EP on March 5 at All Asia in Cambridge, MA.

-Gio Coviello | (Y)OURscene Boston

Listen to “Leave Narcissism to the Experts”  HERE