Rock music has infinite permutations in modern day. Under every genre, there’s a subgenre that hybrids with rock. When folks complain about a lack of rock, they ought to be more specific. Rock is everywhere, but the blues is scarce these days. Other than a few big acts, rock has had to adapt to survive. The Thinking Men seek to remind us of why we like to add rock to our music. They remember where rock came from and they know how to inject the blues into good, energetic bursts of sound creating that feeling we’ve been missing.
Their song I Wanna Be Good lends itself to a fairly simple, formulaic approach. There’s no need for too much going on in the verses as they’re a means to an end, and that end is a rip-snorting time full of aggression and virility. It’s also downright fun. This song has all the raw catchiness of garage rock with the soul and style of blues rock. The Thinking Men have form and function in mind as they bring together all the things you’ve wanted to return in a new package that can keep up with the loudness wars while retaining its rooted dignity. This can be a dangerous game though, reviving old flames. As the lyrics state, if you can’t be good, you’ll wind up dead. Let’s see how long the Thinking Men can stay on that bull and remain good.
-Paul Weyer
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