Search - Thin White Rope :: Moonhead

The great unsung guitar band of the 80's

Jonathan B Whitcomb | New Hampshire USA | 02/16/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Thin White Rope is one of the bands that loves to defy categorization. The best I can do is "Psychedelic western death rock". Breaking this down, the "phsychedelic" part is the manic, dual guitar drones that drive this music, as well as the trippy lyrics. Some people call the sound "country", but this is misleading. The better term is "Western". This sounds like it could be the soundtrack to a whacked out Tex-Mex gun-slinging cowboy movie. The "Death" part refers to the very dark lyrics, but dark like Dr. Strangelove rather than Joy Division...there's some very funny stuff here. And the "Rock" part needs no explanation...these guys rock loud, heavy and hard. The sound is huge...big, big, big. And beautiful.My favorite song on this album is the title track: a long, rambling guitar driven opus that builds from an introspective beginning and finally explodes into a frantic climax. The guitar work of this band is beyond comparison, although Television is a good starting point. These guys know how to build tension better than any band I've heard.Guy's voice also defy's description, but try to imagine a beer-soaked Roger Daltrey with a mouthful of marbles and...uh...you still can't imagine it! I'll try again...how about Johnny Cash on Helium singing through a burlap bag...nah. Hmm. A Roy Orbison 45 rpm record played back at 33? Nope. All I can definitively say is that his voice is a perfect match to the music.If you haven't heard this band, start anywhere. All of their albums are excellent and representative of the band's sound. But do yourself a favor and start somewhere. The bad news is that once you get a taste for these guys, you can't get enough. The good news is they have lots of albums and you can't go wrong."

The band that got away...

Chad A. Wilson | Sacramento, CA United States | 08/23/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I could go on for hours about Thin White Rope, but I think I can make my point best by keeping it simple. I own thousands of albums by Thousands of bands, and most in my top 20 are Thin White Rope... The song "Thing" is one of the saddest, most moving songs ever written. If you like Guitar Rock with brains and passion, this is the band. The way I see it, if TWR never existed, and this album came out today, they would be the talk of the "Indie Rock" world, dominating the likes of Moonie Suzuki, the Hives and the Strokes. Do your self a favor, buy this one..."

Creepy yet compelling

David Group | Buffalo, NY | 01/06/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Imagine a country-rock band of ex-junkies from a ghost town run by William Burroughs, and you begin to get the idea of what this band sounds like. Call it-- American Goth? The vocals sound like a cleaner, spookier Tom Waits, and the spare echo-y sound evokes the dark side of town, full of dead end streets and boarded-up storefronts. The perfect soundtrack for driving down a desert highway at 3AM, in a vain attempt to escape the trail of blood and money in the sleazy motel room behind you."