Thick Records is a Chicago-based independent record label which actively operated from 1994 to 2007. It now exists as a catalog only label for its previous releases.

History

Thick was formed in 1994 by Detroit native Zak Einstein, who started the label when he re-located to Chicago after graduating from

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...

. Early releases include albums from Chicago ska-punkers The Blue Meanies, Alton, IL's Judge Nothing, Seattle's grunge rockers Truly featuring Robert Roth, Mark Pikerel, and Soundgarden's

Hiro Yamamoto Hiro Yamamoto (born April 13, 1961) is an American bassist who was a founding member of grunge band Soundgarden, along with Kim Thayil and Chris Cornell in 1984. He left the band in 1989, and two years later, he started the independent rock ban ...

, and the Omaha-based

Commander Venus Commander Venus was an American emo band from Omaha, Nebraska. Fronted by Conor Oberst and Tim Kasher, the band also included Todd Fink and Matt Bowen (musician), Matt Bowen of The Faint, Ben Armstrong of Head of Femur (band), Head of Femur and ...

, whose members included

Conor Oberst Conor Mullen Oberst (born February 15, 1980) is an American singer-songwriter best known for his work in Bright Eyes. He has also played in several other bands, including Desaparecidos, the Faint (previously named Norman Bailer), Commander Venu ...

Tim Kasher Timothy J. Kasher (born August 19, 1974) is an American musician from Omaha, Nebraska, and is the frontman of indie rock groups Cursive and the Good Life, both of which are on the Omaha-based record label Saddle Creek Records. Music Slowdo ...

, Matt Bowen and Todd Baechle. Blue Meanies singer Billy Spunke joined Einstein and signed multiple Chicago punk rock artists including

The Tossers The Tossers are an American six-piece Celtic punk band from Chicago, Illinois, United States, formed in July 1993. They have toured with Murphy's Law, Streetlight Manifesto, Catch 22, Dropkick Murphys, The Reverend Horton Heat, Flogging Molly, ...

, The Arrivals, and

The Methadones The Methadones were a band formed in 1993 by guitarist/vocalist Dan Vapid. The Methadones initially lasted only a few shows before Vapid put them to the side to focus on his main band Screeching Weasel. By 1999 Dan was no longer a member of Scree ...

. The label also issued the

Trenchmouth Trenchmouth was an American punk band from Chicago, Illinois, formed in 1988. Throughout its existence, the band mainly consisted of Damon Locks (vocals/percussion), Chris DeZutter (guitar), Wayne Montana (bass), and Fred Armisen (drums). Bio ...

compilation 'More Motion' spanning the years 1987-1997 in 2003. Thick released picture disc vinyl including 7" records from

Alkaline Trio Alkaline Trio is an American punk rock band from Chicago, Illinois. Since 2001, the band has consisted of Matt Skiba (vocals, guitar), Dan Andriano (vocals, bass) and Derek Grant (drums, vocals). Founded in late 1996 by Skiba, bassist Rob Do ...

At The Drive-in At the Drive-In was an American post-hardcore band from El Paso, Texas, formed in 1994. The band's most recent line-up consisted of Cedric Bixler-Zavala (vocals), Omar Rodríguez-López (guitar, vocals), Paul Hinojos (bass), Tony Hajjar (dru ...

ALL All or ALL may refer to: Language * All, an indefinite pronoun in English * All, one of the English determiners * Allar language (ISO 639-3 code) * Allative case (abbreviated ALL) Music * All (band), an American punk rock band * ''All'' (All al ...

, and

Citizen Fish Citizen Fish is an English punk rock band that has been active since 1990 and shares members with Subhumans. Citizen Fish does not emphasize the raw political statements and nihilistic viewpoint of the former, instead focusing on issues of ...

. The label also released several compilations documenting Chicago rock and punk music. The compilations included 2000's ''Magnetic Curses: A Chicago Punk Rock Compilation'', which included music from

Gaza Strippers Gaza Strippers were an American garage punk band from Chicago formed by Rick Sims, who had previously played guitar with The Supersuckers and was the lead singer and lead guitarist of The Didjits. The band released its first single in 1997 on Bam ...

, and

Pegboy Pegboy is an American punk band from Chicago, Illinois with a relatively large cult following. They were founded in 1990 by John Haggerty (ex-guitarist for Naked Raygun), along with his brother Joe Haggerty (drums, formerly of The Effigies), Larry ...

. In 2002, the label issued ''Love & Rebellion'', a compilation of label acts including

, and

. ''Oil: Chicago Punk Refined'', a 2003 release from the label, included tracks from nineteen Chicago-area punk acts, including

Rise Against Rise Against is an American punk rock band from Chicago, formed in 1999. The group's current line-up comprises vocalist/rhythm guitarist Tim McIlrath, lead guitarist Zach Blair, bassist Joe Principe and drummer Brandon Barnes. Rooted in hardcor ...

The Lawrence Arms The Lawrence Arms are an American punk rock band from Chicago, formed in 1999. They have released seven full-length albums and toured extensively. Band history Pre-history Prior to forming the Lawrence Arms, the three band members were active i ...

Plain White T's Plain White T's are an American Rock music, rock band from Lombard, Illinois, formed in 1997 by high school friends Tom Higgenson, Dave Tirio, and Ken Fletcher, and joined a short time later by Steve Mast. The group had a mostly underground music, ...

Bob Nanna Bob Nanna (born June 14, 1975) is an American musician best known as the singer and guitarist for the bands Braid (band), Braid and Hey Mercedes. Nanna also currently performs as part of the band Lifted Bells, as well as a solo project The City ...

, and

Local H Local H is an American rock band originally formed by guitarist and vocalist Scott Lucas, bassist Matt Garcia, drummer Joe Daniels, and lead guitarist John Sparkman in Zion, Illinois in 1990. The members all met in high school in 1987 and founde ...

. The tracks for the ''Oil'' compilation were recorded in an oil blending factory. The label hosted a summer barbecue/independent music event for several years, The Annual Chicago Rock Yards & Flea Market. In 2004 the label released a DVD collection of the "Out of Focus" fanzine, featuring acts including

Green Day Green Day is an American rock band formed in the East Bay of California in 1987 by lead vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong, together with bassist and backing vocalist Mike Dirnt. For most of the band's career, they have been a powe ...

, Jawbreaker,

Voodoo Glow Skulls Voodoo Glow Skulls are an American ska punk band formed in 1988 in Riverside, California, by brothers Frank, Eddie, and Jorge Casillas and their longtime friend Jerry O'Neill. Voodoo Glow Skulls first played at backyard parties and later at Spa ...

, Down By Law,

Sludgeworth Sludgeworth is an American punk rock band from Chicago, Illinois, United States, consisting of Dan Schafer (vocals), Adam White (guitar), Dave McClean (guitar), Mike Hootenstrat (bass), and Brian Vermin (drums). The band was formed in 1989 as ...

Born Against Born Against was an American hardcore punk band from New York active between 1989 and 1993. In addition to their radical leftist politics, the group espoused a DIY punk message and challenged what they perceived as being a problem within the p ...

Los Crudos Los Crudos is an American hardcore punk band from Chicago, Illinois active from 1991 to 1998 and from 2006 onward. Comprising all Latino members, the band paved the way for later Spanish-speaking punk bands in the United States and helped to i ...

and more. In 2004 Einstein moved the label to Los Angeles. The last label releases came in 2007 with CDs from The Brokedowns and

Seven Storey Mountain Seven Storey Mountain is an American rock group from Phoenix, Arizona. The group's music is heavily influenced by the early Washington, D.C. post-hardcore scene.Andy Hinds, Seven Storey Mountainat Allmusic The band formed in 1994 as a three-pi ...

. Thick was distributed by the Symbiotic Label Group from 1994-1999, Southern Records 1999-2004, the Lumberjack Mordam Music Group 2005-2007, Nail Allegro Distribution and The Orchard 2007-present. , Thick operates as a catalog-only label.

Bands

* The Arrivals * Bitchy * Blue Meanies * The Bomb * The Brokedowns * Calliope *

Cougars The cougar (''Puma concolor'') is a large cat native to the Americas. Its range spans from the Canadian Yukon to the southern Andes in South America and is the most widespread of any large wild terrestrial mammal in the Western Hemisphere. I ...

* Tom Daily * Fingers Cut Megamachine * Five Deadly Venoms *

The Gadjits The Gadjits were an American ska and rock and roll band from Kansas City, Missouri, United States. History The Gadjits Brandon, Zach, and Adam Phillips come from an artistic family, their father was a jazz musician and their mother an art teac ...

* Gasoline Fight * The GC5 * The Good Mornings *

Goldblade Goldblade are an English punk rock band from Manchester, England. The band formed in early 1995 when ex Membranes frontman, John Robb, put the band together with Wayne Simmons and former Membranes and A Witness vocalist Keith Curtis on bas ...

* Geezer Lake * Hanalei *

Haymarket Riot The Haymarket affair, also known as the Haymarket massacre, the Haymarket riot, the Haymarket Square riot, or the Haymarket Incident, was the aftermath of a bombing that took place at a labor demonstration on May 4, 1886, at Haymarket Square in ...

Horace Pinker Horace Pinker is an American punk rock band formed in 1991 in Tempe, Arizona and based in Chicago, Illinois. They combine a pop-punk musical sound with catchy hooks and political lyrics. Horace Pinker has played in more than 21 countries incl ...

* Judge Nothing * Lasalle *

* Model/Actress *

New Black Logan Conrad Mader (born November 16, 1970) is a Canadian record producer and current guitarist of melodic death metal band Once Human, as well as the former lead guitarist of groove metal band Machine Head. Mader is most famous for his time i ...

* Orange * Resident Genius/Howard Zinn *

Season to Risk Season to Risk are an American noise rock/alternative rock band hailing from Kansas City, Missouri, United States. History Season to Risk formed in late 1989 from the ashes of the Kansas City punk bands Nine Lives and Curious George. Although Se ...

* Shanna Kiel & Black Fur * Sullen * T. Duggins *

* Truly * Vorits

Other bands with Thick Records releases

All All or ALL may refer to: Language * All, an indefinite pronoun in English * All, one of the English determiners * Allar language (ISO 639-3 code) * Allative case (abbreviated ALL) Music * All (band), an American punk rock band * ''All'' (All al ...

At the Drive-In At the Drive-In was an American post-hardcore band from El Paso, Texas, formed in 1994. The band's most recent line-up consisted of Cedric Bixler-Zavala (vocals), Omar Rodríguez-López (guitar, vocals), Paul Hinojos (bass), Tony Hajjar (dru ...

* Back Of Dave *

Burning Airlines Burning Airlines was an American rock band from Washington, D.C. J. Robbins and Bill Barbot of Jawbox formed the band with Peter Moffett (formerly of Government Issue) in 1997. The band released two full-length albums, a self-titled 7", and sp ...

Cows Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult ma ...

* Dick Justice * Edsel * Liquor Bike * Not Rebecca * Servotron * Speed Duster * Starball

References

External links

Thick Records website

Thick Records
at

Discogs Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the la ...

{{Authority control Record labels established in 1994 American independent record labels Alternative rock record labels Companies based in Chicago