Thank are somewhat of an oddity in the UK’s alternative music scene, their sound resists easy classification and their second album, I Have A Physical Body That Can Be Harmed, which is set for release later this week via Big Scary Monsters, is a brash, satirical, and exhilarating ride through punk, electronic experimentation, and industrial noise. Fronted by Freddy Vinehill-Cliffe, whose vocal delivery veers from crooning to snarling to outright screaming, and powered by Steve Myles’ brutal drumming—more often heard in grindcore circles—Thank bring an intensity that’s very fucking hard to ignore.
The album opens with Control, a track that pulses with an 80s-inspired synth line before Vinehill-Cliffe’s venomous rants take over. The song transitions into Woke Frasier, a biting commentary wrapped in absurdist humour, with Vinehill-Cliffe quipping, “Bad news, your credit card details are now woke / and you should send them to me for safe disposal.” This mixture of dark wit and explosive energy runs throughout the album, setting the tone for the band’s unpredictable sound.
Do It Badly is a rambunctious punk track where Freddy sings about taking his girlfriend out and his cat to the vet—a perfect example of Thank’s sometimes silly approach to lyrics. While the subject matter is deliberately daft at times, the precision of the musicianship elevates it beyond mere parody, with the band playing with intensity and tightness that underscores their sincerity beneath the absurdity. I Have A Physical Body is a record that demands multiple listens to fully grasp its depth and layers.
Tracks like The Spores pull the listener into a doom-like atmosphere, with a low-end, brooding bassline that creates an almost suffocating mood. Down with the Sickness, on the other hand, begins with a pulsating synth before erupting into a chaotic blend of rock and electronic noise. In contrast, Barely is a more laid-back affair, driven by warm synths and heavy basslines, while Vinehill-Cliffe’s casual, almost charming delivery offers a rare moment of introspection amid the chaos.
Smiling Politely, a song about revenge, closes with a droning synth and a comical moment as Vinehill-Cliffe quips, “Have one of youse leaned on the Moog?” before leading into Dead Dog in a Ditch, a scathing track that features relentless drumming and Vinehill-Cliffe’s signature sneer. It’s a cathartic, punk-infused anthem that’s bound to be a crowd favourite in live settings.
The penultimate track, Perhaps Today, takes a more whimsical turn, underpinned by a funky bassline and a disco beat. Here, Vinehill-Cliffe philosophises about the afterlife—questioning whether dogs and babies go to heaven, and whether any of it really matters. As with much of the album, it’s a surreal and playful rumination on existence, delivered with Thank’s trademark blend of humour and defiance.
Album closer Writing Out a List of All the Names of God is a ferocious, no-holds-barred track that captures the raw energy and unhinged creativity at the heart of the band. It’s a chaotic, acid-fried anthem, a perfect encapsulation of Thank’s unrelenting, genre-blurring sound.
I Have A Physical Body That Can Be Harmed is an album that fuses the ferocity of Thank’s early punk work with the more experimental, electronic elements that have emerged in their recent output. The result is a genre-blurring collage of hardware techno, jungle-influenced drumming, synth-pop bombast, and anarcho-punk aggression, all infused with the frenetic energy of internet-era nihilism, It’s a prime example of why Thank are one of the most exciting and unpredictable bands in the UK’s alternative scene right now.
Pre-order I Have A Physical Body That Can Be Harmed HERE