via myspace.com/thomasfunction

​The Alabama foursome Thomas Function makes its label home on Fat Possum, that originally Epitaph-spawned label that began as a blues imprint. That family tree indeed tells you a bit about the band's sound -- propelled largely by a punky euphoria, but informed by a bit of a Muscle Shoals thrust. (Check out those soulful organ stabs).

Yes, this is low-pretense, vaguely retro-sounding stuff of the kind that's de rigeur in the circles of rock lovers who are exhausted by the overproduction of Animal Collective, Dirty Projectors, and Grizzly Bear, et. al. Where Thomas Function sets itself apart from a lot of the shitgaze/lo fi/garage/whatever pack, though, is with tunes that are, at their core, downright strummy and feel-good. There's no shame in sticking some feel-good hooks under all those layers of fuzz.

Here's the band's song "Conspiracy of Praise," off the album Belly of the Beast off the band's 2008 debut album, Celebration. The quartet is currently touring behind the 2009 follow-up, In the Valley of Sickness.