On the road with the Thing

This is Tour Diary, where artists give us a behind-the-scenes look at life on the road. The Thing are deeply rooted in everything DIY. Formed in 2022, the NYC garage-rock outfit — comprising members Zane Acord, Jack Bradley, Michael Carter, and Lucas Ebeling — record at their East Williamsburg studio Onion Records, preferring tape machines and live recordings to glossy studio production. That ethos shines through in their live shows, where their raucous energy becomes the main character. Recently, the Thing completed a three-night residency at the East Village’s buzzy new venue Night Club 101. The band took us through that trio of shows, which they performed ahead of their new self-titled album (out now). It’s an LP that embraces old-school rock while doubling down on their ripping urgency, written and recorded entirely to tape in one month. “We threw all of our different various influences throughout — all the decades of rock ’n’ roll and adjacent genres — and ended up with something of our own,” Bradley says. “Our contribution to the genre. Our style. Our… thing.”

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