The Thing with Ken Vandermark - Immediate Sound

Scandinavian fire-skronk heroes The Thing may have made their reputation by incorporating punk and garage rock into their repertoire, but this 38-minute live set sees them diving head-first into the classic 60s American free-jazz sound, with not a cover version in sight. That’s mostly thanks to the bravura contributions of Chicago’s Ken Vandermark, who continually throws in his trademark “Maceo-on methedrine” licks, delving into a bag of stock phrases that add a certain funkiness to the trio’s usual brutal attack.

Being one continuous set, it’s not all heads-down burning and there are more considered moments – such as Nilssen-Love’s hi-hat solo, reminiscent of Max Roach’s stripped down single-mindedness. But, for the most part, it’s the blazing, muscular, almost impossibly macho madness we’ve come to expect from these jazz he-men. Even when it seems they’ve utterly spent themselves they’re somehow able to whip it up for a final, exhausting explosion of testosterone. They must all have very happy wives.

Daniel Spicer