Thank You Scientist
Maps Of Non-existent Places

“Maps of non-existent places” is the first album by the young American group Thank You Scientist, released in 2012 as a follow-up to the EP “The perils of time travel” (2011).

The lineup is rather unusual, fundamentally born from the addition of trumpet, sax, and violin to the canonical quartet of vocals-guitar-bass-drums, but they often further enrich the instrumental variety by using percussions, viola, cello, and mandolin or even resorting to decidedly unusual elements such as trombone, flugelhorn, and shamisen. With such abundance, it's not difficult to imagine how varied and rich the sound of Thank You Scientist can be, and indeed it is not particularly easy to propose a label that helps classify their music. The reference genre is certainly a progressive (hard) rock in the vein of The Mars Volta-Children of Nova, energetic and very varied, to which heavy metal and jazz-rock influences are added, sporadic sprinkles of funk, and a decidedly more orthodox approach compared to the aforementioned predecessors. The furious explosions of The Mars Volta, perpetually balancing between strokes of genius and incomprehensible intellectual games, find no space in this album, which boasts an incredibly solid and mature structure and a very low tendency toward self-indulgence. The sound is very compact, and the composition of the pieces reveals a remarkable orchestration capability. The result is truly remarkable, showing a group extremely at ease, capable of offering a new, eclectic, and innovative sound.

After a brief sung prelude, the album kicks off at full throttle with the triptych “A Salesman's Guide to Nonexistence,” “Feed the Horses,” and “Blood on the radio,” which immediately clarify what our heroes are made of, between metal blasts, imaginative tempo changes, brilliant riffs, and top-notch instrumental technique. The freshness and originality of the sound are undoubtedly among the main strengths, making the listening experience extremely captivating. Personally, I found particularly astonishing their ability to insert the brass sections and especially the violin, never out of place, adequately highlighted in their moments of greatest prominence, and overall very well blended with the ensemble sound. With the next piece, “Absentee,” the band demonstrates their skill with much more delicate sounds, delivering a ballad that combines unconventional sounds, well-punctuated by the beautiful violin work, a couple of commendable sax and guitar solos, and an intense yet measured vocal performance. If up to this point Thank You Scientist managed to impress with their freshness and inventiveness, the following piece “Suspicious Waveforms” is another revelation. Six and a half minutes of excellent instrumental jazz-rock, predominantly led by trumpet, bass, and drums, but with excellent contributions from all other instruments as well. The remaining four tracks only confirm and reinforce the impression of great solidity from this group, which successfully marries the taste for an innovative and unusual sound in both pieces with a classic intro-verse-chorus structure (“Carnival” and “Concrete swan dive,” both splendidly catchy) and in moments of greater experimentation (“In the company of worms” and “My famed disappearing act”, embellished with delicious fretless guitar phrases fretless and excellent tapping work, respectively).

In conclusion, “Maps of non-existent places” is an extremely enjoyable and well-made album, which bodes well for the potential of Thank You Scientist, a band that on their first real test has already shown they have very clear ideas, a marked personality, and notable technical means.