Sounding eerily like Bad Company's Paul Rodgers after a long week of inhaling corn liquor at Junior Kimbrough's juke joint, Auerbach aches his way through songs like "Set You Free," a cover of "Have Love Will Travel," the screeching "No Trust" and the soon-to-be-discovered pole-dancers fave "Hurt Like Mine" with a ferocity that leaves little room for subtlety.
And don't adjust your stereo, kids -- the record really does sound that fuzzy. It's Neanderthal and it kills enough to wipe out an armored brigade with its blunt force. Occasionally, the riffs and beating do get a bit repetitive and plodding, as in "Everywhere," but Auerbach's progressions are memorable as he hammers them in again and again over the course of a song.
Reportedly recorded in a single 14-hour session in the basement of a house with minimal morning-after overdubs, thickfreakness stands well among Fat Possum's roster of apocalyptic bluesmen like T-Model Ford and R.L. Burnside.
