Biography
The Thomas Function, a Huntsville, Alabama outfit, produces exuberant yet ragged garage rock saturated with organ textures and carried by Joshua Macero’s intermittently nasal yet consistently magnetic singing. The project grew out of Macero’s solitary four-track home recordings, leading him in 2001 to recruit Zach Jeffries, whose Farfisa patterns supply the group’s essential pulse, and drummer Phillip Dougherty. Bassist Travis Thompson, an earlier associate from Macero’s punk band the Panic Buttons, completed the lineup, after which the Thomas Function began playing shows in Huntsville before reaching stages across the United States. Their debut album, Celebration, surfaced in 2008 on Alive Records, a Bomp! subsidiary, its impact strengthened by several memorable 7-inch singles and prominent festival slots such as SXSW; the record earned warm critical notice and drew listeners already attuned to the unrefined three-chord approach of Jay Reatard and King Khan. International dates promoting the album met with fervent crowds throughout Europe. In fall 2009 the band delivered its sturdy follow-up, In the Valley of Sickness, on Fat Possum and resumed nationwide touring.
Albums
