Thirst Things First are a very tongue-in-cheek electro-punk band out of Lincoln, Nebraska that I’ve honestly been a fan of for a long ass time. Back in August they put out their newest album called ROILTY, and you can currently stream the whole thing on Bandcamp.
The band has a hilariously convoluted lore to them that revolves around their activism in getting people to drink more oil. Oil, I’m told, means “all beverages and currency.” I don’t usually reprint press emails that I get from bands, but it’s hard not to share the brilliant pitch I got from LORD BOOT:\\ in my email:
“HELLO [INSERT JULIE’S NAME HERE.] MY NAME IS BOOT:\\ AND I AM A TRANSMISSION REPRESENTING THIRST THINGS FIRST. FOLLOWING THE BAND’S SUCCESS IN TEACHING THE EARTH, WORLD ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF DRINKING OIL AND COLLECTING AS MUCH OIL AS IS ATTAINABLE, I COME TO YOU WITH THIS IMPORTANT CORRESPONDENCE. ORIGINALLY FORMED IN THE YEAR 2011 WITH A PAIR OF NO NAME HUMAN TELEMARKETERS, A PROFESSIONAL WRESTLER TURNED BASSIST, AND MY OWN JOINT OPERATIVE ROBOTIC DRUMMER (OR J.O.R.D.) TEAM TTF IS IN-IT-TO-WIN-IT, WITH GREAT CHANGES FOLLOWING THE ORGANIZATION INTO THE YEAR (NOW) 3024.
“THE FUTURE IS FAR MORE ADVANCED IN WAYS THAN YOU COULD EVER UNDERSTAND AS A LOWLY HUMAN JOURNALIST, BUT I’LL DO MY BEST. I HAVE SPENT THE LAST (ONE THOUSAND AND) THIRTEEN EARTH YEARS RECRUITING THE GREATEST AND MOST RELIABLE HUMANS I COULD FIND, FOR IT TURNS OUT THE ORIGINAL LINE-UP OF THIRST THINGS FIRST JUST WASN’T VERY TALENTED. SOME WOULD SAY THEY WERE FOR THE WARM-BLOODED VERTEBRATES OF THE CLASS AVES CHARACTERISED BY FEATHERS, TOOTHLESS BEAKED JAWS, AND THE LAYING OF HARD-SHELLED EGGS.
“IT IS WITH THIS NEW LINE-UP THAT WE ARE PROUD TO ANNOUNCE THE RELEASE OF ROILTY THE TEN SONG DEMONSTRATION BY TEAM TTF, AND A DIRECT RESPONSE TO 2019’S LOILTY EP. PRESENTING THE OILERS THEMSELVES AT THE VERY TOP OF THEIR GAME. THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME, HUMAN PRESS REPORTING, AND ULTIMATE SPOTIFICATION OF SAID SONGS THAT WILL LIKELY PUT VERY TINY MINUTE FRACTIONS OF OIL INTO THE POCKETS OF TEAM TTF AND THEIR INVESTORS. (NOT MIKE.)
“BEST
LORD BOOT:\\”
So, with that absolutely brilliantly unhinged introduction to this band, let’s dive in.
Keeping up a joke where every track on the record has a title starting with the word “It’s,” the album opens on “It’s Nuts, Man,” which comes in with balls-to-the-wall energy amidst electronic elements and the occasional ska interlude, making for the perfect introduction to this comedic opus. Then “It’s Potentially Restricting My Airways” comes in with a similarly frenetic energy, quality hooks, and some really killer guitar solos. The hilariously titled “It’s Oil, Something Happened With Oil, It’s Gone (I Really Need More Oil)” really rides some sick synth and electronic elements as they explore the silliness of the band’s own bizarre lore.
“It’s A.F. A.F.” was made into a music video, and appropriately as it’s the most slickly produced and hook-laden track on the album that achieves true electro-pop perfection. “It’s Idle” is very fast-paced synth punk with a furiously fast vocal delivery. “It’s Dark Purple” walks the thin line between rapping and singing while maintaining a spot-on Weird Al-esque comic delivery. The whistle at the end is the perfect way to close out a bizarrely funny track like this. “It’s Slydick” is more guitar-centric with more rap-esque vocal delivery that really highlights the comic genius of the lyrics.
“It’s (A Packet of That) Thick White Oil” is a mostly-instrumental track built on some absolutely mesmerizing guitar riffs accompanied by some distorted vocalizing. Penultimate track “It’s Paranoid” is actually a cover of the 1970 Black Sabbath classic “Paranoid” that plays a little loose with the lyrics at times. But while the lyrics are based in Sabbath’s dark poetry, Thirst Things First manages to change the tone with their vocal delivery where the silliness lurks just beneath the surface. Finally, the album closes out on “It’s the Sand That Feeds” where the band gets to show off all their cleverness, technical proficiency, and talent for pop hooks one more time to finish out this brilliantly fun release.
Check out the full album below.
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Photo courtesy of James Dean and Ryan Connolly
