Thank You Scientist are one of the most joyful and dizzyingly inventive bands in modern progressive rock — a New Jersey ensemble who fold a full horn section and violin into music that leaps between prog, jazz fusion, pop and beyond, all delivered with virtuosity and a wink. Built around the compositions of guitarist Tom Monda and the soaring voice of Salvatore Marrano, they make some of the brightest, most colourful and most technically dazzling prog of their generation.

The short version

Formed in New Jersey around 2011, Thank You Scientist play horn-laced, fusion-tinged modern progressive rock — a giddy, virtuosic blend of prog, jazz, pop and more, complete with trumpet, saxophone and violin. Across albums from “Maps of Non-Existent Places” (2014) to the sprawling double “Terraformer” (2019), they have built a reputation as one of the most inventive and exuberant bands in modern prog. Complex, melodic and joyfully unpredictable, they are a delight.

New Jersey: a band of weirdos

Thank You Scientist grew out of the music program at Montclair State University, where guitarist and composer Tom Monda met saxophonist Ellis Jasenovic and trumpeter Andrew Digrius, bonding over a shared love of Frank Zappa, the Mahavishnu Orchestra and the Beatles. With singer Salvatore Marrano and a full ensemble of strings, horns and rhythm, they self-released their debut EP in 2011, then their first album. Their music caught the ear of Coheed and Cambria’s Claudio Sanchez, who made them the very first signing to his Evil Ink label — and a singular new prog band was on its way.

Horn-laced, fusion-tinged prog

What sets Thank You Scientist apart is their instrumentation and their sheer exuberance. A seven-piece built around guitar, a horn section of trumpet and saxophone, violin, bass, drums and Salvatore Marrano’s high, agile voice, they weave progressive rock, jazz fusion, swing, Latin music and bright pop into intricate, fast-moving songs that somehow stay catchy throughout. Drawing on the spirit of Frank Zappa and the Mahavishnu Orchestra, and often likened to the Mars Volta, they pair jaw-dropping musicianship with a playful, tongue-in-cheek charm. As bandleader Tom Monda has put it, they make weird music for people who still care about weird music.

If this is your scene, the books go deeper →

From Maps to Terraformer

Their debut album “Maps of Non-Existent Places” (2014) introduced their giddy fusion of prog, jazz and swing, and earned them a devoted following. “Stranger Heads Prevail” (2016) brought heavier, proggier and funkier shades, cracking the Billboard charts, while the ambitious double album “Terraformer” (2019) — their most expansive work, with a partly new line-up — pushed their sound to dazzling new extremes. The EP “Plague Accommodations” (2023) followed, continuing their run of restless, colourful invention.

Album by album

Four releases of bright, virtuosic, joyfully unpredictable modern prog. Tap any title for its guide.

The players

Thank You Scientist have always been a large, evolving ensemble, anchored by founder, guitarist and chief composer Tom Monda and, for most of their history, the soaring vocals of Salvatore Marrano, with violinist Ben Karas a long-serving presence alongside a rotating cast of horn players and rhythm sections. In 2023, Marrano stepped away from the band to focus on his family, and Thank You Scientist have continued with a new singer, carrying on the adventurous, horn-driven sound that made their name. Through every change, Tom Monda’s restless musical imagination has remained their constant.

Where to start

Begin with “Stranger Heads Prevail” (2016) or the debut “Maps of Non-Existent Places” (2014) — two of their brightest, catchiest and most accessible sets, perfect introductions to their horn-laced fusion-prog. From there, the sprawling double album “Terraformer” (2019) shows their ambition at full stretch, a dazzling deep dive for the converted. A handful of records that capture one of modern prog’s most joyful bands.

Why they still matter

Thank You Scientist matter as one of the most distinctive and exuberant bands in twenty-first-century progressive rock — a group whose horns, strings and genre-hopping virtuosity expanded what modern prog could sound like, all while keeping a sense of fun too often missing from the genre. Their music is complex without ever being cold, and joyful without ever being slight. For anyone who wants their prog colourful, melodic and full of surprises, Thank You Scientist are essential listening.

Browse the bookshelf in the footer →