Album review: THICK – Happy Now

While the majority of us are quite content to spend our summers standing in various fields watching bands and taking out an extra mortgage for a pint, there’s something to be said for spending these warm months just lazing on the grass and staring at the clouds with some decent tunes. And that’s where THICK come in.

The Brooklyn trio’s fuzzy, lo-fi punk veers from ’90s slacker to more crunching urgency throughout the 11 tracks on Happy Now, but never strays away from the core mission of hooks, infectious vocal melodies and a simmering level of disdain for those who impact your right to be happy.

Rather than a sprint, THICK choose to wander through a sun-drenched meadow of indie guitar lines, pop-tastic choruses and even the odd bit of shoegaze, falling somewhere between Weezer and fellow New York underground heroes Dirty Dishes. From the hazy Montreal to the scuzzy Maybe Tomorrow, vocalist Shari Page spends the record reckoning with ideas of happiness, all the while exploring and exposing vulnerability on tracks like Wants & Needs, and finding the strength to overcome in Tell Myself.

More than feedback-y guitars and lackadaisical vocals, there is a sense of determination, with antagonistic lead single Loser acting as something of an anthem for a disenfranchised youth, while the hypnotic, driving Disappear urges you to cut pain and toxicity out of your life.

Despite all its positive and uplifting messaging, and easy afternoon overtones, THICK aren’t necessarily making something you haven’t heard before, but if you’re after a record to crank up with a few tinnies in the park while wishing the wasters in your life would fuck off, this is the one for you.

Verdict: 3/5

For Fans Of: Amyl And The Sniffers, Weezer, WAXX

Happy Now is out now via Epitaph