A new band tonight introduced to me by Andy, my regular gig partner, is the Vermont queer post punk outfit Thus Love. I have no idea what post punk is as by definition any music released after 1976 probably falls into that category. There are obvious Strokes comparisons, both vocally and musically but there’s also a touch of Talking Heads, War on Drugs and they wouldn’t look out of place at all in the seventies CBGBs scene.
What they are though is a great live band who are very much on the upward curve. Joking that they sold 300 hundred tickets tonight which is more than live in their town but also sold another 300 for the following night too. On the evidence of tonight it won’t be long before they are playing much larger rooms. However as we know too well there is rarely any justice in the music business but hopefully they can rise above the bullshit out there and garner the success they deserve.
The trio are tight and produce a massive sound between them and especially the varied soundscape that comes from lead singer and guitarist Echo Marshall’s Fender. I have no idea what pedals she uses but a blistering sound fills the 100 club as if there are three guitarists on stage. The tempo builds and builds throughout the set and all of the songs bring a smile to the faces of both the band and the crowd in pure enjoyment.
The set as you would expect covers most of their debut album ‘Memorial’ plus a couple of tracks released this year ‘Centerfield’ and ‘Put on Dog’ and for me there was no one track that stood out just a constantly high quality fifty minutes or so. A definite must see next time they are back over here.
Keep on post punk rockin’ y’all