Watch out America! Here comes a THUMB in your face! Australia's answer to Black Sabbath, Thumb comes right at you with a 14 song assault they like to call "Nitros City" on Wings Music Entertainment. These guys from down under combine the energy of a Midnight Oil, the hard rocking of say a Silverchair and the attitude of favorite hard rockers that have come down the pipes before them like Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, King Crimson & Frank Zappa....yes, Frank Zappa! you yellow snow eaters..and you know who you are! Thumb's Charles Chase, Brendan Ewing and Andrew Ewing from Ash (the band's former name) in Perth in Western Australia are all hippie freaks to be sure (my kind of people!) carry on the legacy laid down before them with youthful fervor and insightful angst. Thumb takes you along on a sonic romp through the bedrooms of their minds, tripping through psychedelic interludes; dripping with emotion, searching for truth and reason in Nitros City. Whether you find it or not is up to you. They'll rock you hard on tracks like "Wrong Way Home" which rocks with intensity while breathing easy & "Mind My Dream" or trip slowly through the rock and roll garden on songs like "Stick 2 Fingers", a slow, sticky, repetitive melodic groove with slow, rhythmic, almost jazz-like drumming. This style works well for them as it does on the title track "Nitros City", which has a cool, funky vibe to it and just might sound better with a balloon near by..I don't know! Some of the lyrics are intensely personal on songs like "Untitled" and "Some Memory of A Man". It all comes from the inside with Thumb. I think that's what they mean when Andrew screams out, "Stick 2 fingers in my mouth and help me force the pain out!" Knowing firsthand how cathartic music can be, I can say Thumb must be feeling much better after this excursion through Nitros City. Cowboy Surfer - www.musicdish.com

after doing a magical disappearing/reappearing trick from the perth music scene, thumb have jumped in front of everyone's faces with a sudden return to the live scene and releasing a single, WRONG WAY HOME, which has now led to this, a well produced and presented album that effectively exposes thumb's unique view and style of music, backed by revealing and motivated lyrics. the general consensus on NITROS CITY is to take things at a slow pace while heavily building the music up. the opener, shallow grave, and the mindful stick 2 fingers follow this pattern, while the catchy single wrong way home and jealousy show the heavier side of thumbs music and subject matters. the cold and blunt drone of vocalist andrew ewing's voice adds a further element to the thumb sound as he passes over subjects with determination and opinion, even when singing behind an acoustic guitar. behind a great deal of the publicity and hype is an album that travels deeply through a talented musical style that was left over in the wake of grunge and pumped with real emotions in the lyrics, as well as in the music. Daniel Salter - Xpress Magazine Perth WA

a band who've been doing things locally for years, thumb (known as ash a long time ago, before those poxy irish lads came along and ruined it all for them) have finally got round to releasing something of real length, away from the tapes and dats. you could easily mistake them for tumbleweed if you saw them standing on a street corner, but that's not a mistake you'd make once you heard them play. For starters, they're only a three piece, but also, they're so much more subtle, more complex and more of a thinking person's music, than those other drug bums. It's classic sounding melodic rock, without being full frontal R.O.C.K, typified by no one track in particular. It's probably best to analyse them by taking some examples from a few songs. The tightness displayed on wrong way home, the acoustic flavour of all save the day, and the 70's come 90's classic rock of some memory of a man sum it up nicely. Stuart Badhair - Pelican Magazine Perth WA

three piece local band thumb have been around since 1993 and are charles chase, brendan ewing and andrew ewing. having survived a name change, the release of two eps and a single, WRONG WAY HOME (jan '98), thumb now unleash NITROS CITY. with artwork resembling the recently launched red jezebel CD, thumb are minimalist yet well presented. this 14-track CD covers a range of tastes, from the thrashings of wrong way home to the calmness of untitled, thumb more than represent their eclecticism. the opening track, shallow grave is reminiscent of pearl jam's early ten album, all grunge-inspired guitars and strong vocals. the faith no more-ish jealousy quickens the pace, providing a moment to mosh. thumbs use of tempo change mid-track gives constant redirection to several tracks. the title track holds a neutral mellowness and thumb's guitar emphasis carries the tracks through to mind my dream a big guitar/heavy vocals track. at times, thumb's material tends to become repetitive, with the use of the one riff several times in one song resulting in a more obvious, rather than simply catchy sound. we are asked "have you considered heavy metal poisoning?" at the beginning of the beck-ish funk-filled/metal-interrupted/farm animal sounds sampler ham and beef. the gem tired show comes towards the end, with "and I don't care what you want, and i'm not impressed by your showing off / i’d fuck you out of curiosity" representing life in a perth band perhaps? the nice even pace of this track holds enough variety to maintain interest and become a potential single. the stop start of how full of concern gives way to the short-lived funk of ono, which sounds vaguely supergrass- i should coco-ish. the shouting of humble contests "god/man/lines never crossed" with changes in direction again disjoining the track. however you judge thumb, they have definitely achieved something with NITROS CITY. For in it, thumb embrace their dark, disturbing melancholy and mellow the fast pace of life for a pleasant moment or two. Maryanne Hancock - Harambee Magazine Perth WA