THOMAS FUNCTION - Heave Media

Instantly infectious melodies, buttery fat organ sounds, tambourine infused beats and from Alabama of all places? Thomas Function should have the world at their feet very soon with debut album Celebration!. Beaming with the confidence of a junkie troubadour with nothing to lose, lead singer Joshua Macero channels the spirits of Jonathan Richmond and Richard Hell. The band backs him with the energetic minimalism of kiwi rockers The Clean, but with an intensity seldom seen since the “hey days” of Violent Femmes and The Pixies.

Celebration! does not let up. From honkey-tonkers to speed freaked-out rockers, Thomas Function blend all the aspects of what a new band can get themselves into while in the garage. When listening, you really can visualize the group hacking it out in the Alabama heat giving each other unabashed looks of approval and high fives. There's nothing throwback here at all. The song writing is far too strong to make a jaded comparison.

"Can't Say No" plays like a kid bouncing in one those inflatable back yard party contraptions. The Hammond organs are as sweet as sunshine playing against this powerful yet simple little masterpiece. - Joel Roth / Heave Media

Sonic's Rendezvous Band - Herohill

Rock n' roll relies on energy, sweat and swagger. Seeing a band crush through a set is should be something that changes a fan's live. Until you see that first live show, you can't understand why we file into dark little holes in the shadiest parts of town to hear a band most people have never heard off. We are all searching for that moment in time that can't be replicated or ever taken away from you.

There are only a few bands that seem to come to life the minute they hit the stage, and almost none that can capture those special nights and make you feel like you were there when the songs are put on CD. Whether it's Live at Leeds, The Apollo or Folsom Prison or something completely unique like Unplugged in New York there are live albums that everyone seems to have and hold on to because the sound is terrific and the record defines the band.

But there are a few records, like Kick Out the Jams, Live at Sin-E or Otis Redding's Live in Europe that shows an artist transforming in front of us; becoming something bigger than you could ever imagine. The tape hiss and static crackle are ignored, and the current of electricity that runs through the set and becomes a part of us. It's that energy that people can't let go of and the reason people trade shitty bootleg copies and listen with strained ear and volume cranked.

Well, Alive/Natural - a long time supporter of the band - has done us all a favor and transformed one of those hiss filled sets into a CD recording. In 1978, the Ramones grabbed a hold of Fred "Sonic" Smith's band, Sonics Rendezvous Band, and requested they open for them in Detroit. End result? Well, for 36-minutes the power of the band dominates your ears. The sound is rough and ragged, but hot damn does it move. I'm not saying this white hot set should be placed on a pedestal like some of the other "live" staples, but it helps you remember that Detroit was kickass and why so many people were influenced by this super group.

From the minute the set starts, Fred's guitar and voice are piercing and Scott Asheton refuses to let up on the drums. I have no idea how he didn't kick a hole in the bass drum, but even on this converted recording - remastered from an old tape recording - the bass drum feels like it might pound through your chest.

The guitars on Gone With the Dogs are unrelenting and the last 2 minutes are almost overwhelming, but somehow they are able to keep the energy going when Scott Morgan takes the mic on my favorite track, Love and Learn. By the time Sonic signs off with City Slang, you are left broken and battered and have to wonder if even for one night in 1978, the opening act was able to upstage the Ramones and renew faith in the Detroit scene. - Herohill

Sonic's Rendezvous Band - All Music Guide

Sonic's Rendezvous Band may well have been the finest rock & roll band to emerge from the Midwest in the last half of the 1970s, but there isn't as much evidence as one might wish to back up this claim. Fronted by MC5 guitarist Fred "Sonic" Smith and also featuring Scott Morgan (ex-Rationals) on rhythm guitar and vocals, Scott Asheton (ex-Stooges) on drums and Gary Rasmussen (ex-Up) on bass, Sonic's Rendezvous Band took the primal "high energy" sound of classic Detroit rock and streamlined it with force, precision and intelligence; however, record companies showed no concrete interest in the band, and outside of a self-released single with the same tune on both sides, the group broke up in 1980 with their great songs and blazing performances undocumented. Many years after Sonic's Rendezvous Band called it quits (and Smith succumbed to a heart attack in 1994), a small trickle of live recordings of the band began to circulate, and a treasure trove of SRB material was released in 2006 by the U.K. Easy Action label in the form of a six-disc box set. Masonic Temple: Detroit 1978 is a stand-alone release of one of the live shows featured in the SRB box, a storming seven-song, thirty-five-minute set the group played opening for the Ramones on January 14, 1978. From the opening notes of "Electrophonic Tonic," it's clear Sonic's Rendezvous Band were determined to show the hometown crowd what they could do, and this show never lets up its majestic intensity and drive for a moment. The musicians sound almost telepathically tight, the guitar attack is joyously unrelenting, the songs are excellent (especially "Sweet Nothin'" and "City Slang"), and the set is paced with the care of a good album. This recording was easily one of the high points of Easy Action's SRB box set, and if you're hesitant about forking over for a collection that large to find out what Sonic's Rendezvous Band were all about, Masonic Temple: Detroit 1978 is an excellent place to discover one of the greatest "unknown" bands of all time -- though don't be shocked if you want to hear more after checking this out. - Mark Deming / All Music Guide