Chances are, regardless of musical preference, the bluesy rock and southern soul group Alabama Shakes have crossed your radar at some point. If so, the soulful and powerful vocals from Brittany Howard undoubtedly left an impression. Thunderbitch, fronted by Brittany Howard, joined by members of Fly Golden Eagle and Clear Plastic Masks, self-released their debut S/T full length, seemingly out of nowhere. Both, the band name and the promo photos floated around with the vocalist, disguised in glasses and a leather jacket looking the part of youthful angst. Thus, the musical direction of “good time garage rock” with a heavy dose of southern soul comes as no surprise. So it is with this installment of Rainbows In The Dark.

Nowhere on the album is the good time aesthetic better heard than on the duo of “I Just Wanna Rock n Roll” and “Eastside Party.” The former recalls The E-Street Band in a raucous mood. The latter serves up a mixture of surf rock riffs mixed with a 50’s flair typical of the band’s sound.

“Wild Child” and “Leather Jacket” are standard garage rock cranked to eleven but the vocal performances set these apart from any sub-standard fare. Brittany is intense, loud and full of  conviction in her delivery, par for the course as she has a way of making even the most difficult sounding lines seem effortless. Defining Thunderbitch is not an easy task but these two tracks are, at the least, the heart of the bands message of rock-n-roll with a punk attitude.

Echoes of the Alabama Shakes are not lost on this album and are clearly heard on the bluesy “Closer.” In comparison to the rest of the tracks this one is a slow burner filled with soulful vocals and some serious blues licks akin to Muddy Waters or Taj Mahal. The volume and intensity ebbs and flows for effect, as many great blues songs do, and as the track comes to a close Brittany is in top form, belting out the last few lines. Not straying too far from this formula is “My Baby Is My Guitar.” The glimmering difference is in the effective guitar work, plenty of bending strings, high pitched chords and an overall muddy delta sound sifted through a punkish filter. In a way it reminds me of the Immortal Lee County Killers at their downtuned best.

Thunderbitch have kept fairly quiet and simple since their beginnings in 2012, with little information on their website, live shows left as a ‘maybe…someday’ and a Soundcloud account with a couple of tracks on it. With Brittany fronting the band, obviously the fanbase will be there. But the album stands firmly on its own, loud where it needs to be and dance the mashed potato kind of fun for the rest. Stream it here and turn your Sunday frown upside down.

– Josh

Thunderbitch is available now on the Alabama Shakes merchandise page. For more information on Thunderbitch visit the band’s website.