Thank – ‘I Have A Physical Body That Can Be Harmed’: album review: sharp and sarcastic noise rock
THE SKINNY: There are few bands in the Leeds scene who have attracted more love than Thank. Each time the noise-rock outfit takes to the stage, whether it’s in a dingy DIY venue or the hallowed halls of the Brudenell, audiences flock to see them. They come to scream along to every word of ‘Dread’, to dance to their heart’s content and to douse the floor in beer in the process.
Somewhere between those packed-out live shows and practice sessions spent in community spaces, Thank have honed one of the most distinctive sounds not just in their home scene, but in the entirety of noise-rock. It’s frantic and abrasive, danceable and anthemic, and completely unserious. And on I Have A Physical Body That Can Be Harmed, the band’s new album, it sounds sharper than ever before.
Thank pull from all over the place instrumentally. Elements of punk subgenres meet nods to Tears for Fears, swarming synths rise up against thrashing drums contributed by newcomer Steve Myles, and, of course, there are those frequent and relentless torrents of noise. But it never feels disjointed in its myriad of influences, each of them pulled together by that intrinsic Thank-ness.
Sitting just atop, taking the form of shouts and screeches, frontman Freddy Vinehill-Cliffe’s lyric writing is just as quotable and quick as ever. The Thank frontman has a sickness, it’s called best lyricist in Leeds disease, and lucky for us he’s had another flare-up on I Have A Physical Body That Can Be Harmed. He pokes fun at those afraid of “woke culture” and throws in references to The Simpsons alongside discussions of rapture and human suffering.
I Have A Physical Body That Can Be Harmed reasserts Thank as the most exciting band currently operating in Leeds’ DIY scene, providing another dose of their unpredictable yet endearingly familiar sound via charismatic noise and snarky lyrics. It’s hard not to love.
For fans of: Beer served in the correctly branded glass.
A concluding comment from the writers of Frasier: “We’ve been off the air for two decades now.”
I Have A Physical Body That Can Be Harmed track by track:
Release date: November 8th | Producer: Rob Slater and Chris Jones | Label: Big Scary Monsters
‘Control’: Thank pulled two drafts together to create ‘Control’, gradually filling a synthy opening with distorted screeches and proclaimed relinquishments of control lifted from a debut album demo. Eventually, the instrumentation loses control, too, falling into thunderous drums and relentless noise. [4/5]
‘Woke Frasier’: Bad news, the rock band Thank from Leeds have gone woke. [3/5]
‘Do It Badly’: After providing us with a slew of quotable phrases on Thank’s debut album, frontman Freddy gives us some more words to live by on ‘Do It Badly’. The track shrugs off imposter syndrome with its title phrase, before devolving into repeated declarations of a bar-side tragedy: a pint of Guinness in a Madri glass. [4/5]
‘The Spores’: Thank shrug off the playfulness of their previous two offerings with ‘The Spores’, a lengthy and far more foreboding offering inspired by poor landlord maintenance. “It’s comforting to know just how you will die,” Freddy affirms, “it’s comforting to know that the fungus is alive.” By around the four minute point, the track devolves into screams and impossibly fast drumming, cementing it as a highlight of the record. [4.5/5]
‘Down With The Sickness’: After proving his knack for stellar opening lines on their debut, Vinehill-Cliffe continues to show off his prowess in this area on ‘Down With The Sickness’. “I’ve got a sickness, it’s called sad little guy disease,” he declares, before pushing into discussions of pain and suffering. Can’t have nice things, don’t want nice things. [3.5/5]
‘Barely’: After the darkness of ‘The Spores’ and ‘Down With The Sickness’, Thank return to more light-hearted territory on ‘Barely’, at least instrumentally. The unexpectedly Tears for Fears-inspired track pairs playful percussion with whirring synths. “How often do they talk about you?” Freddy asks, “The answer is barely.” At once comforting and frown-inducing. [4/5]
‘Smiling Politely’: The way you incorporate your album title into your lyrics matters, and Thank do it perfectly on ‘Smile Politely’. “I have a physical body that can be harmed and motherfucker I will have my way,” Freddy declares after a glorious intro, before his voice is left echoing beneath endless layers of noise. [4/5]
‘Dead Dog In A Ditch’: Thank’s punk ethos comes to the fore on ‘Dead Dog In A Ditch’, a sparse, pulsing track with far more bite than its title image. “I always felt like I had something to prove,” Vinehill-Cliffe sings, “and now I’ve proved it.” He sure has, although he still invites you to tread on him. [3.5/5]
‘Perhaps Today’: Thank reckon with the rapture on ‘Perhaps Today’, wondering if dogs and babies go to heaven and grappling with the fact that the second coming could come at any moment. The end of the track is particularly interesting, as Vinehill-Cliffe repeats “Perhaps today, perhaps today, perhaps today,” with shouty urgency over thrashing noise. [4.5/5]
‘Writing Out A List Of All The Names of God’: Thank close out I Have A Physical Body That Can Be Harmed with a raucous final track that feels like the culmination of the record. ‘Writing Out A List Of All The Names of God’ is fast and frantic, displaying the talents of each member of the band as well as their increased synergy from their debut. [4.5/5]
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