Brief Record Review – I Have A Physical Body That Can Be Harmed, by Thank

“I’ve got a sickness, it’s called being very handsome and a skillful lover with a good credit rating disease.” *

Punk rock has a knack for showing back up in your life exactly when you need it. If you grew up with even just one record from Sub Pop, SST, Epitaph, K, Alternative Tentacles, or Dischord (surely countless others, but these are mine), you know what I mean. Perhaps, you never let it go. It’s possible you’ve thought to yourself you’ve outgrown it, or your heart just isn’t in it any longer. With the recent nationwide, uniquely American unpleasantness fresh in my mind, I’d been spending the past week enraged, confused, and anxious to let off some kind of steam. I didn’t know exactly how to describe or express it, but I knew I needed someone to commiserate with me on a visceral level. Then, these lads from Leeds, England showed up in my life with some punk rock, exactly when I needed it. Thank is the band we all need.

I Have a Physical Body That Can Be Harmed (or IHAPBTCBH, going forward and for brevity’s sake) is perfect. It starts off with Control, which sounds like the Melvins’ “Hung Bunny/Roman Bird Dog” decided to share a room with Gary Numan and conceived Idles, or a very British Spencer Moody. Control spends the first three minutes building up to the last minute’s finale of absolute noise rock Valhalla. I really love this song.

The absolute idiocy of the Trump era has completely butchered satire. However, Thank pulls it off wonderfully in Woke Frasier. It isn’t necessarily witty, but it throws the kind of punches that are cathartic in their pettiness and vitriol. This is the song that made me realize how much I needed IHAPBTCBH and Thank:

Do It Badly is sound advice for the mediocre white boys of the world. A page out of the Vandals playbook, but instead of delivering it with a smirk, Thank delivers with a dark sneer.

Spores is a solid piece of stoner metal.

* The lyrics that appeared at the beginning of this screed are taken from Down With The Sickness. I hope that the people out there who are seeking out Godsmack accidentally find Thank, instead, and are forever enlightened.

Seriously, IHAPBTCBH is excellent. This one is gonna give Melt-Banana a run for their money as record of the year. I’m wearing this monster out. An absolutely perfect record for our moment.