Opposable Thumbs

Clearly weaned on acts like The Fall and Gang of Four, Opposable Thumbs are committed to their influences, all to absolutely positive effect. A traditional two guitars, bass and drums quartet, with their new album the band explore anachronistic sonic textures, beholden less to any current trend (discounting retro) and indicative of early-to-late ’80s punk. In fact, this could easily be presented as a long-lost and recently uncovered album by Wire, and it would stand as believable. This, though, is not at all a bad thing. Recorded at Treehouse Audio, Opposable Thumbs sounds fresh throughout its 10 tracks, maintaining a rock ’n’ roll attitude as the through-line for the duration of the record. Gone are any pretenses of indie preciousness, replaced instead with a steadfast dedication to having fun, and not worrying about reinventing the wheel.