New York City is always wanting for bullshit-free rock and roll, and joining the thin ranks of those trafficking in it is the trio Thinning the Herd, whose debut full-length, Oceans Rise, is a quick eight tracks of sans-frills doom rock. Led by guitarist/vocalist Gavin Spielman – who seems as ready at any given moment to unleash a killer riff as he is to rip a solo – Thinning the Herd transcend the C.O.C.-isms that made up so much of their prior Devil Mask EP, keeping the groove but putting a more individual stamp on it. Bassist Nick Lee throws exceptional fills in to complement Spielman’s playing, and drummer Ben Proudman lands heavy on his snare to ground the material and keep the pacing fluid. As a trio, they work well together across the album, and at a quick 34-plus minutes, Oceans Rise (released via St. Mark’s Records) has a few standout tracks of which anyone hungering for a break from the onslaught of hipstamatic Big Apple indie rockers calling themselves psychedelic should be aware.

There’s a darker edge in Spielman’s guitar tone, not so much fuzz, and it’s mostly for that reason that I hesitate to call Thinning the Herd a stoner band, but there’s no mistaking that they’re both heavy and riff-led – which is more than enough for many to make the designation. Oceans Rise launches with its title-track, a slower, doomier number that hints some at the band’s songwriting prowess. Lee gives one of several really strong bass performances (he also proves his abilities as a member of tech-weirdos Exemption), and Spielman’s gruff-but-clean vocals set a pattern that continues throughout the ensuing cuts. It’d be easy to liken it to Deliverance or Wiseblood-era Pepper Keenan, but even comparing Oceans Rise to Devil Mask, it’s clear he’s growing into his voice and becoming more of his own singer. Doubtless confidence is a part of that and he’ll continue to develop over future Thinning the Herd releases, but there’s plenty engaging about his work on the catchy “Look Behind” and the even-riffier “Defiler,” which is a highlight not only for Spielman’s layering, but Lee’s running lines as well and the conviction that seems to be in Proudman’s mashing of his hi-hat. As “Chill in the Air” wraps the first half of Oceans Rise, it’s with more strong rhythm section interplay and another well-crafted chorus.

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Seems like easy math, but if there’s one thing in this world I like, it’s a band from New York City that doesn’t suck. There’s a couple out there, to be sure, but the five boroughs are awash in acts who blow hipster chunks all over the place in some kind of fashion show of who can out-horrible each other, and quality rock is a boon when you find it — which is why I’m into Thinning the Herd. They don’t suck. It’s a pretty simple formula.

As the PR wire previously informed, the NYC trio — led by guitarist/vocalist Gavin Spielman — will release their new full-length, Oceans Rise, this coming Tuesday, April 5, and because I dig the band and because the opportunity to do so was offered, I thought I’d share with you the closing track from the album, “On Fire.” It rules more than a little bit.

Stream it on the player below:

[mp3player width=460 height=130 config=fmp_jw_widget_config.xml playlist=thinning-the-herd.xml]

In case you’re too lazy to click that link above, here’s the info for Oceans Rise again:

Set for release on April 5, 2011, via NYC-based St. Mark’s Records, the eight-song rager Oceans Rise boasts the band’s soulful brew of grunge-fueled, blues-driven, stoner-infused rock, and was put on tape by the engineering masters at Seizures Palace in Brooklyn (Child Abuse, Swans, OvO, Dresden Dolls). The album surges with soul over its 35-minute life span, alive with groove and stories, inciting a trampled but triumphant sense of survival and good times.

Oceans Rise tracklisting:
1. Oceans Rise
2. Look Behind
3. Defiler
4. Chill in the Air
5. Binge
6. Wide Crossing
7. My Wake
8. On Fire

Buried Treasure and live review veterans Thinning the Herd are apparently on the cusp of releasing a new full-length. According to the PR wire, their new album, Oceans Rise, will be issued April 5, but that’s not stopping the band from playing a release show next Thursday at Europa in Brooklyn. So maybe they’re a little ahead of themselves. Whatever. Maybe if you’re nice they’ll let you buy a copy at the gig.

PR wire sends love and this:

Set for release on April 5, 2011, via NYC-based St. Mark’s Records, the eight-song rager Oceans Rise boasts Thinning the Herd’s soulful brew of grunge-fueled, blues-driven, stoner-infused rock, and was put on tape by the engineering masters at Seizures Palace in Brooklyn (Child Abuse, Swans, OvO, Dresden Dolls). The album surges with soul over its 35-minute life span, alive with groove and stories, inciting a trampled but triumphant sense of survival and good times.

Thinning the Herd’s Oceans Rise record release show:
03/10 Europa Brooklyn, NY w/ God’s Green Earth, Hovel, and Cold Fur

It was a Sunday night in Brooklyn and Crowbar was at the recently-busted Santos Party House, so I thought I’d skip out on the Boardwalk Empire season finale (DVR’ed it) and check out the live set from Allston heavy rockers Black Thai at Hank’s Saloon. Between all these factors and the fact that it was cold as fuck out, I didn’t anticipate much of a crowd at Hank’s for Black Thai or Thinning the Herd, who opened — all the better to go. Fewer people means fewer assholes. Woody from Mighty High was there, and a few others, but Hank’s is a small room anyway, so it worked out.

This was the second or third time I’ve seen Thinning the Herd, and of all the bands kicking around New York right now, I just get the feeling these guys are on the right track. Especially in the work of guitarist/vocalist Gavin Spielman, they’ve got tremendous potential, and if they got hooked up with the right recording engineer, who understands their kind of music — riffing and aggressive, but still aware of melody — they could come out with something really killer. They weren’t as tight at Hank’s as when I saw them last at The Trash Bar, but a little looser worked great for the Sunday night and the laid back atmosphere of the show.

Black Thai killed. They barely fit on the stage, the four of them, but even in tight quarters, they rocked hard and heavy, drummer Jeremy Hemond (Roadsaw, Cortez) reaching high to nail his cymbals time and again, and guitarist Scotty Fuse (also Cortez) and guitarist/vocalist Jim Healy (ex-We’re all Gonna Die) emitting riffs and solos with charisma and energy while bassist Cory Cocomazzi filled out the low end and added a moodier feel to the material. They’d played the release show for their Blood from on High EP (review coming soon) the night before in their native Massachusetts, and some of that energy clearly carried over to Brooklyn. It was a welcome addition to the evening.

It wasn’t the highest profile show happening in New York Sunday night — for that matter, neither was Crowbar — but both Black Thai and Thinning the Herd delivered big, making it well worth the drive from Jersey on my end. It was great to see Black Thai for the first time live after listening to the two tracks from their demo (with which they opened the set) and to get to know Thinning the Herd better as a live act. The night wrapped at about midnight and I headed back through Manhattan and the Holland Tunnel feeling better than I’ve felt coming back from Brooklyn in a long time.

Their recent set supporting Roadsaw and House of Broken Promises at the Trash Bar in Brooklyn (Alkahest opened) was my first experience with New York trio Thinning the Herd. I’d seen the name around, but never actually heard the band, and once I did that, buying their 2009 Devil Mask EP was unavoidable. Sometimes these things just happen.

Pepper Keenan-era C.O.C. is a good point of reference for a song like “Philistine,” but Devil Mask opener “Won’t Abide” is all Iommi, and specifically the Iommi solo record or Sabbath‘s Dehumanizer in terms of tone. The guitars are spot on. “Kitchen Sink” has a more Judas Priestly vibe, but the trio — Gavin, Rich and Dan on the disc — have a pretty clear idea where their doom comes from, and it comes from Birmingham.

What interests me most about Devil Mask, though, isn’t the guitar or the voting-with-a-bullet vocals, it’s the drums. It’s amazing, but if you go back in the annals of metal history, you’ll see even more than makeup, hair-size and jean-tightness, the eras are marked by drum sounds, and the feel of Thinning the Herd‘s kit for “Won’t Abide” and the biker-doomly “Uninformed” (the only song on Devil Mask that’s not available for hearing on the band’s MySpace) is metallic classicism through and through. Not something you hear every day, especially in New York, especially on a weeknight. Was a cool surprise and easily worth the purchase price for the EP.