If anyone can capture the messiness and frustration and chaos and yearning and anxiety and elation and disappointment and detached amusement of one’s twenties, it’s Fred Thomas. Changer came at me in very much the same way that first sentence probably did to you. It’s earnest and straightforward — there’s no conceit here. Thomas just puts you right in the thick of it.
Changer is fairly controlled chaos, though. As Thomas runs the gamut of emotions, he abruptly breaks off into two well-crafted instrumental pieces before sliding into complete depression, as if there’s nothing more to say. The album ends with one of my favorite songs, “Mallwalkers,” an affectionate and incredulous reflection on high school. It’s refreshing to get a straight-up rock album these days, and Thomas adds new energy and depth to a topic that one might think might not have new ground to cover.