Rock 'n' roll teenage zombies From Alabamalama
I’ve been playing the new singles (and the old ones) by Thomas Function a lot lately. I also dug out all of the records by Travis & John’s old band.
The first time I heard the Panic Buttons was about 7 years ago. Three 16 year old guys from Brownsboro, Alabama playing Sonics and Mummies songs in the middle of the dining room at Big Ed’s Pizza. They were really great and a lot of fun. A few months after that, the band released a 7” on their own Teen-Fink Records. I believe it was recorded in a garage or bedroom, the guys obviously didn’t waste beer money on studio time. Some of the songs would not be out of place on a volume of Back From The Grave.
Teen-Fink also released a split single with a side each by the Panic Buttons and the 3-Ds, another Huntsville garage band. Huntsville had a lot of great garage bands at the time. There was also a compilation 7” released on Zodiac Records out of Brooklyn. The Panic Buttons do a swell cover of “Trash”.
Also from this time, there was a mysterious tape by a band called Los Muy Guapos, who seem to have been a Panic Buttons alter-ego but nobody's ever admitted to it.
In 2002, The Panic Buttons actually went into a studio and recorded an album. Then they broke up. The LP was released around a year later on Ken Rock Records. The studio was good to the band, they sound terrific. Sometimes the sound gets close to punk but I don’t think that’s a bad thing. Recording in a studio allowed the band to play with the sound a little. They even let piano and synthesizer on a few songs on side two. These additions give a little hint of what Josh & Travis would sound like when they started playing as Thomas Function.
The first time I heard the Panic Buttons was about 7 years ago. Three 16 year old guys from Brownsboro, Alabama playing Sonics and Mummies songs in the middle of the dining room at Big Ed’s Pizza. They were really great and a lot of fun. A few months after that, the band released a 7” on their own Teen-Fink Records. I believe it was recorded in a garage or bedroom, the guys obviously didn’t waste beer money on studio time. Some of the songs would not be out of place on a volume of Back From The Grave.
Teen-Fink also released a split single with a side each by the Panic Buttons and the 3-Ds, another Huntsville garage band. Huntsville had a lot of great garage bands at the time. There was also a compilation 7” released on Zodiac Records out of Brooklyn. The Panic Buttons do a swell cover of “Trash”.
Also from this time, there was a mysterious tape by a band called Los Muy Guapos, who seem to have been a Panic Buttons alter-ego but nobody's ever admitted to it.
In 2002, The Panic Buttons actually went into a studio and recorded an album. Then they broke up. The LP was released around a year later on Ken Rock Records. The studio was good to the band, they sound terrific. Sometimes the sound gets close to punk but I don’t think that’s a bad thing. Recording in a studio allowed the band to play with the sound a little. They even let piano and synthesizer on a few songs on side two. These additions give a little hint of what Josh & Travis would sound like when they started playing as Thomas Function.
posted by KS at 10/25/2007 08:45:00 PM
5 Comments:
great stuufff, you're on a roll.
Thanks! Glad you're enjoying it! I hope I keep rolling!
The first single is a lost classic of the 90's. They did some basement recording in Michigan with Joe of the Dirtys but those recordings have never seen the light of day. Thomas Function are absolutely one of my favorite new bands of the year.
fk the links are all dead now, anybody still have these??? I have the killer Alabamalama LP but have never seen/heard any of these before! Stoked for any pointers..
I've stopped doing the blog and am not keeping the links active.
Vertical House Records recently came across a few copies of the 7", drop 'em a line here: http://www.theverticalhouse.com/
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