The stage lights of Coachella may have been 135 miles away but they didn’t shine nearly as brightly as those at The Echo in Los Angeles on Friday night. A stacked lineup featuring Reckling, Mean Jeans, and a headlining spot by THICK brought riotous punk energy that firmly established that the real party was not out in the desert but underneath the glowing marquees of Sunset.
Reckling kicked off the evening’s festivities with a setlist that covered the gamut from grungy punked out blasts, to muscular four-on-the-floor bangers that would make the Ramones proud, to moody post-punk soundscapes with a motorik heart. New track “In My Hair” leapt from the PA with the barely restrained torquiness of a gassed up V8 straining against the battleworn sheetmetal of a desert faded Firebird, amplifying an already powerful track into vibrant new life via live performance.
The tone of the set abruptly shifted gears when leader Kelsey Reckling put down her guitar and handed over the instrumental reins to the rest of the band. Instantly shot through by a nitrous blast of intense playing, Reckling transformed into a dervish of unstoppable energy, pogoing across the stage and delivering staccato stanzas with the deadly cadence of a line of fully loaded Howitzers. Goaded into action, the crowd erupted into a frothing mosh to match the bombastic blitzkrieg coming from the stage.
The band’s wry punk attitude and deadpan demeanor drove home the poetically confessional lyrics with a raw cynicality that flirted with nihilism but never succumbed to contagious apathy. It’s readily apparent that behind their straight-faced, no-nonsense approach to songwriting and performance is a furiously beating heart that underscores just how much Reckling really cares.
The placement of Mean Jeans directly in between a pair of sets led by powerful female voices was simultaneously jarring and inspired. Cut from the same beer-soaked cloth as the late Nashville kings Diarrhea Planet, Mean Jeans fully embrace the kind of fast and furious ultra scuzzed garage punk custom tailored for bonfire keggers and frathouse ragers alike.
More than just a band, Mean Jeans delivers full-fledged low-brow performance art replete with boneheadedly genius banter, love songs to Sizzler and Coors Lite, and chain-wallet enhanced punk jumps all played with unabashed sincerity and a winking sense of humor that lets the audience in on the joke. And the audience was unquestionably all-in, moshing and shouting along to every song, fists raised in the air amidst a seemingly unending downpour of PBR splashed from voluntarily tossed plastic cups.
Insane guitar tones sliced through the fuzz as the band traded vocal duties through the riotous setlist of sub-2 minute party anthems. Wildly unhinged but somehow straying on the rails, Mean Jeans capped their performance with back-to-back covers of the Smashing Pumpkins and Spin Doctors before abruptly pulling the plug with a final snappy one-liner: “Thank you very much, we’re the Bee Gees!”
By the time THICK took the stage the audience was sweaty and enthusiastic, and the band absolutely delivered on a riotous set of buzzaw guitars, massive drums, and bass so low it rattled ribcages with the strength of a professional boxer landing percussive blows to their opponent’s torso. Lightspeed 00s punk infused with straight-faced emo and powered by a radiant riot grrrl core, THICK push beyond preconceived genre conventions into a sound all their own, honed to razor sharp perfection that enables the heady themes of the band’s starkly feminine perspective to slice deep for maximum impact. Untamed, ferocious, and unflinchingly honest, THICK fully embodies modern feminism by flipping the bird to outdated gender roles and frankly discussing tough topics to transform their body of work into a vehicle for unstoppable progress packaged and delivered into 3 minute sonic manifestos.
Setlist standards like “Mansplain” hit like a ton of bricks, and a selection of new tracks were delivered with manic rubber ball bounce and ricochet rhythms that pummel with Adderall intensity. Massive, churning stomps shot through lilting vocals and truckloads of charm turn on a dime into acerbic tirades that rage against the arbitrary constraints of societal expectations, emblematic of THICK’s uncanny ability to soften up their targets before going in for the final blow. Sarah Greenwell of Gymshorts joined the band on stage for a rendition of their debut album’s title track, augmenting the take-no-prisoners attitude of “5 Years Behind” with an extra shot of rambunctious rascal energy.
Watching the band tear through their setlist it is readily apparent that THICK is 100% a team effort. The power trio radiates iron clad camaraderie in precision lockstep that more than earns them not just a seat at the table, but undoubtably at the head of the class.
THICK is currently on the road in support of 5 Years Behind. Follow the band on Instagram and catch them on tour in the US and Canada through May and in Europe this June with The Distillers
APR 19 TUE
Ventura Music Hall – Ventura, CA, United States
APR 20 WED
Catalyst – Santa Cruz, CA, United States
APR 23 SAT
The Observatory North Park – San Diego, CA, United States
APR 25 MON
Lowbrow Palace – El Paso, TX, United States
APR 26 TUE
House of Blues Houston – Houston, TX, United States
APR 27 WED
Emos Austin – Austin, TX, United States
APR 28 THU
House of Blues Dallas – Dallas, TX, United States
APR 30 SAT
The Basement East – Nashville, TN, United States
MAY 1 SUN
Buckhead Theatre – Atlanta, GA, United States
MAY 3 TUE
The Senate – Columbia, SC, United States
MAY 4 WED
Baltimore Soundstage – Baltimore, MD, United States
MAY 5 THU
Paradise Rock Club – Boston, MA, United States
MAY 6 FRI
Jergel’s Rhythm Grille – Warrendale, PA, United States
MAY 7 SAT
Warsaw – Brooklyn, NY, United States
MAY 8 SUN
The Fillmore Philadelphia – Philadelphia, PA, United States
MAY 10 TUE
Foufounes Électriques – Montreal, QC, Canada
MAY 11 WED
Velvet Underground – Toronto, ON, Canada
MAY 12 THU
Grog Shop – Cleveland, OH, United States
MAY 13 FRI
Zanzabar – Louisville, KY, United States
MAY 14 SAT
House of Blues Chicago – Chicago, IL, United States
MAY 15 SUN
Amsterdam Bar and Hall – Saint Paul, MN, United States
MAY 17 TUE
Bottleneck – Lawrence, KS, United States
MAY 18 WED
Slowdown – Omaha, NE, United States
MAY 20 FRI
Marquis Theater – Denver, CO, United States
MAY 21 SAT
Kilby Court – Salt Lake City, UT, United States
MAY 22 SUN
The Shredder – Boise, ID, United States
MAY 25 WED
El Corazon – Seattle, WA, United States
MAY 26 THU
McMenamins Crystal Ballroom – Portland, OR, United States
MAY 27 FRI
Hollywood Theatre – Vancouver, BC, Canada
With The Distillers
JUN 2 THU
Zitadelle Spandau – Berlin, Germany
JUN 6 MON
Fabrik – Hamburg, Germany
JUN 7 TUE
Fabrik – Hamburg, Germany
JUN 12 SUN
Download Festival 2022 – Derby, United Kingdom
JUN 14 TUE
Melkweg – Amsterdam, Netherlands
JUN 15 WED
Melkweg – Amsterdam, Netherlands
JUN 18 SAT
Trix – Antwerpen, Belgium
JUN 19 SUN
den Atelier – Luxembourg City, Luxembourg
