Sick Thoughts

Reviews

Sick Thoughts Born to Blitzkrieg 12″

After last year’s hit full-length, the new EP from Drew Owen (a.k.a. SICK THOUGHTS) feels like a victory lap, showcasing four strong tunes from a guy who’s been on a snowballing creative roll for a while now. Gracing the cover for the second consecutive release, this time greeting us with a boozy lounge look and a promising wink, he starts this one off by revealing a raging theme for this decade-plus-old project in “Sick Thoughts.” Then we lean back and loosen up a bit with the ’70s switchblade and bandana vibes of the rockin’ “I’m a Hellraiser.” The pace picks up with “Schoolgirls in Chains,” a jittery and jacked-up garage number that almost sounds like it could have been an outtake from JAY REATARD’s Blood Visions LP. And then, just before he leaves the saloon doors swinging behind him, he kicks out the sickeningly sweet “My Heart is Breaking Over You,” an epic, killer, and uncharacteristic power pop ballad that he pulls off with incredible panache. My favorite track on the album, its crooning and keyboards on the outro are especially bonkers. Cheers to another solid ripper, Drew, and maybe just take it easy on those olives a little bit.

Sick Thoughts Heaven is No Fun LP

Drew Owen has long since proven himself as one of the best songwriters of die-hard, old school rock‘n’roll. With this newest LP, he hasn’t just one-upped himself, he’s raised the bar on the whole fucking game. This record is eclectic, like a high-speed tour through everything that makes punk and rock music important to this day in under 30 minutes. From the straight-ahead nihilism of the opener “I Hate You,” through the anthemically evil “Mother, I Love Satan,” Owen demonstrates a mastery of genre and focus of vision that just hits in your bones. My personal favorite track, “EMP,” is the most evil blast of punk to hit my spine in years. It tips its hat to the mutoid malevolence of SACCHARINE TRUST’s Paganicons, while dragging it into the horrible pre-apocalypse we currently live in. I always thought of SICK THOUGHTS’ self-titled record as the gold standard of sneering, evil rock‘n’roll, but this unlucky collection of thirteen cuts handily clears that record. We’re in a new age of evil punk, and there’s even the almost tear-inducing “Someone I Can Talk To” love song(?) to offer a welcome depth to the whole affair. It’s a sort of victory lap within a triumphant record that belongs in the canon of great fucking rock records.

Sick Thoughts Poor Boys / Drug Rock 7″

SICK THOUGHTS are one of those bands, or projects or whatever, that people constantly talk about in terms of how prolific they are on the release front, but this two-song 45 is the first thing under this name for nigh on eighteen months. I guess we’ve all had distractions one way or another. Both sides are pretty on-point if you’re already down with the essential Drew Owen ethos, and even if not, they’re pretty insta-likeable uptempo punk rock’n’roll with power-pop-gone-metal guitar solos. It’s not polished or anything, but no kind of lo-fi either, especially compared to Drew’s recent album as DD DETH. Kudos for also being bold enough to have a drawing of a bunch of skeletons playing instruments as the sleeve art, despite not being an ageing psychobilly band.