Founded 1994 | ||
Artists Blue Meanies, The Tossers, The Methadones, Local H, Haymarket Riot Albums Feeling You Up, Long Dim Road, Purgatory, Not Economically Viable, Career Objective | ||
THICK RECORDS is a Chicago-based independent record label formed in 1994 by Detroit native Zak Einstein. Early label releases include influential albums from Chicago ska-punkers The Blue Meanies, Alton, IL's Judge Nothing, and the Omaha-based Commander Venus, whose members included Conor Oberst, Tim Kasher, Matt Bowen and Todd Baechle. THICK quickly became a staple of the Chicago punk scene when Blue Meanies singer Billy Spunke joined Einstein at the label's helm, and signed a slew of Chicago artists including The Tossers, The Arrivals, and The Methadones.
Contents
THICK is well known for releasing picture disc vinyl including records from Alkaline Trio, At The Drive-in, ALL, and Citizen Fish, and for its compilation records documenting the Chicago independent music scene, that include tracks from Rise Against, Plain White T’s, Local H, The Lawrence Arms, Pegboy and dozens more.
In 2004 Einstein moved the label to Los Angeles, and the last label releases came in 2007 with CDs from Elgin IL's The Brokedowns, and Arizona's Seven Storey Mountain. THICK currently operates as a catalog only label.
Review
In the age of increasingly soulless, corporate, for-sale-to-the-highest-bidder record labels—even in the ranks of the venerated indies—Chicago's Thick Records stands out as a shining beacon of D.I.Y. integrity, a home for truly independent, original and idiosyncratic artists that, in the words of the great Johnny Rotten, "mean it, man." It is an indispensable part of the Windy City's music scene, and an invaluable treasure for the American musical underground at large" - Jim Derogatis - pop music critic, Chicago Sun Times (2004)