the great pumpkin

Yesterday was a day of music discovery for me in many ways.  I’ve been in a funk, but I heard a whole bunch of new stuff, and surprisingly not too much of it had fuzzy vocals!  Maybe that fad is dying (don’t get me wrong some of it is really good, but I’m ready for music to move on).  While I’m going to be posting about several things that I have been listening to over the past 24 hours I think the band that has impressed me the most has been Thomas Function.

I guess there are two people I have to thank for this discovery, and the first is PopJew and the second is PopTarts (the first for the initial recommendation and the latter for posting some tracks!)

Thomas Function are from Alabama, and make really fun infectious pop music, almost punk at times, with hints of all your favorite garage/pysch/blues, and nasally twangy vocals tie it all together.  On top of totally fun catchy songs their lyrics are the icing on the cake…how can you argue with a song that starts “are you gonna buy a record? or what?” (check out “Picking Scabs below).

Thomas Function formed in 2007 have released six singles, a full length called Celebration on Alive Records, and have just been signed to Fat Possum who will release their second full length In the Valley of Sickness on October 13th.  That is three busy years.

Out of the 30 tracks that live on my ipod right now(yep you read that right…only 30… don’t ask) the two by Thomas Function have gotten by far the most play time.  I wanted to hear more so I headed over to the Free Music Archive.  Sure enough Thomas Function recorded a live set on January 27, 2009 for The Evan Funk Davies show on WFMU.  The set clocks in at 23.5 minutes and is a totally free legal download!

I’m really looking forward to getting my hands on a copy of Celebration, and very soon In the Valley of Sickness as well.

Listen to Thomas Function:

[mp3] Thomas Function- “Belly of the Beast”

[mp3] Thomas Function- “Picking Scabs”

[album download/stream] Thomas Function- Live on WFMU (via  FMA!)

Both mp3s above are from Neither of the songs above are from Celebration, but you can still buy it from Alive Records here or  buy it at insound! (I thought they were, but I just got the record in the mail, and they are not…maybe they are on In the Valley of Sickness…and if so that will be available next month).

Thomas Function also have a huge tour lined up:

• 9/21 Huntsville, AL @ Voodoo Lounge
• 9/22  Florence, AL @ Black Owl Trading Co.
• 9/23  Huntsville, AL @ Whiskey’s
• 9/24  Memphis, TN @ Goner Fest
• 9/25  Memphis, TN @ Goner Fest
• 9/26  Atlanta, GA @ 529
• 9/27  Durham, NC @ 2702 Lawndale
• 9/28  Baltimore, MD @ Talking Head Club
• 9/29  Philadelphia, PA @ Jr’s
• 9/30  Ridgewood, Queens, NY @ Silent Barn
• 10/1  New York, NY @ Webster Studio
• 10/2  Brooklyn, NY @ Bruar Falls
• 10/3  Pittsburgh, PA @ Garfield Artworks
• 10/4  Columbus, OH @ Summit
• 10/5  Detroit, MI @ Lager House
• 10/6  Fort Wayne, IN @ Brass Rail
• 10/8 Milwaukee, WI @ Club Garibaldi
• 10/10  Lawrence, KS @ Replay Lounge
• 10/11  Denver, CO @ Larimer Lounge
• 10/12  Provo, UT @ House Show TBA
• 10/14  Seattle, WA @ Funhouse
• 10/17  Portland, OR @ Vice Scion Garage Festival
• 10/19  Oakland, CA @ Stork Club
• 10/20  San Francisco @ Hemlock Tavern
• 10/21  Sacramento, CA @ Blue Lamp
• 10/23  Los Angeles, CA @ 5 Star Bar
• 10/25  San Diego, CA @ Pink Elephant
• 10/26  Phoenix, AZ @ Modified
• 10/29  Lubbock, TX @ Bash Riprocks
• 10/30  Dallas, TX @ Lounge on Elm Street
• 11/2 Houston, TX @ Mangos
• 11/3  New Orleans, LA @ Saturn Bar
• 11/4  Mobile, AL @ Alabama Music Box

Tags: Alive Records, Fat Possum Records, Free Music Archive, The Evan Funk Davies Show, Thomas Function, WFMU