Thomas Function releases simple, energetic pop album

On "Celebration," Thomas Function's debut album, the band turns up their broken,, old amps and rocks out without a care in the world.

Just to clarify, this is a band, not a person, and there is no one with the first name "Thomas" or the last name "Function" in this band. But all you really have to do is listen to the first few songs to figure all of that out. The sweat and energy that went into this record is evident from the beginning.

"Can't Say No," the second track and catchiest, by far, sounds like a throwback, '70s-era Buzzcocks song while others, such as "Swimming Through a Sea of Broken Glass" sound like tributes to the Exploding Hearts. This is powerpop with a capital "P" and the band members don't seem to plan on making any apologies for their simple and predictable song structures.

"Can't Say No" is an absolutely infectious, organ-laced song that will demand repeated listens. It serves as a nice, lighthearted introduction to the band and this album. The jumpy, rising and falling bass acts as a perfect backdrop to the driving power-chords banged out by the guitarist. A short bass interlude that is quickly joined by a tambourine and an organ dives straight into the final chorus that ends the song with a crash.

Album highlight "Conspiracy of Praise" is another lively song that utilizes a very pleasing organ melody in the chorus. The band starts and stops before going headfirst into yet another high-energy chorus filled to the brim with hooks, before finally slowing things down only to have them kicked up a notch on "Snake in the Grass."

When the organ-tinged chorus kicks in on previously mentioned "Broken Glass," the listener will undoubtedly find him or herself moving in some form. The "whoas" just reinforce the idea that this band probably has a blast in the studio and on stage. Vocalist Josh Macero yelps his way through each track and in many other bands, he'd likely come off as obnoxious.

Being vocally off-key lends itself well to this type of music though. The band, surprisingly, sounds very tight and efficient rather than sloppy, and none of the songs except the crawling closer "Earthworms" ever drag.

A few tracks, such as "2012 Blues" make the members dust off their acoustic guitars and serve as breaks from the frantic tempo, but they aren't nearly as effective as the fast-paced numbers. Fortunately, the 13 songs on the album mostly consist of pure power pop and garage rock. Another seemingly acoustic-based song, "Relentless Machines," becomes more agreeable with the sound of the album once the full band loudly kicks in.

The production of the record is just as essential as the vocals to the band's sound. It isn't glossed over and honey-coated like the Strokes' latest. What was performed is what is there, and no studio wizardry was necessary to turn in a top-notch album. Hopefully Macero and company will continue to do things the old-fashioned way in the future.

This isn't snotty punk, though it emits a similar energy. It's more like happy-go-lucky pop with a dull edge. Everyone in Thomas Function plays hard and this is essential to the carefree mood created on the album. "Celebration" isn't anything revolutionary, but it is well written and performed with a passion that is rare in music these days.