"Perverts" could charm snakes with its slinking progression, jazz flourishes, and the vocalist's fuzzy coos."

Thou ~ Put Us In Tune
(Seethru Broadcasting)

Now that summer is just around the bend, it’s time to put away those gloomy Joy Division albums and start listening to something new, cool, and sexy. Thou are for you.

Highly regarded in their homeland of Belgium, they've been favorably compared to Portishead. While parallels certainly exist between the two, Thou are just too quirky and fun to be considered totally trip-hop. Co-vocalist Bart Vincent sounds a bit like Elliott Smith in a McDonald’s playground for the opening "Kids Do Ride," but then Does de Wolf comes along with her warped little girl, singsong voice to rescue the following "Weak Lady" – a slightly sinister, washed-out torch song. The following track, however, shows Thou in their finest form: "Perverts" could charm snakes with its slinking progression, jazz flourishes, and the vocalist's fuzzy coos. There are a few nods to art-damaged, emo indie rock ("Amuse" could be a keyboard-happy Sonic Youth song), and casual nods to pop, but Thou strike gold when they chill things out and groove out, simply and sweetly. Produced and mixed by PJ’s good friend John Parish, who also plays several instruments (including shaker) on the 15 tracks, Thou are thine.–Scott D. Lewis

 

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