"Now We Can See"
(Kill Rockstars)
nine / ten
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THE THERMAL "Now We Can See" (Kill Rockstars)
nine / ten |
A couple of years ago, whilst chained to my desk at work, was when I first heard The Thermals. As I longed for lunchtime and the much needed lift that food was going to inject in me, a tune rang out of Phantom FM that bolted me upright in my swivel chair. 'Pillar of Salt', a three-minute helping of prickly melodic indie rock meets gritty post pop-punk was said tune, and as the radio presenter called out the band's name I was already scouring the internet for more information on them.
The Body, The Blood, The Machine (released in 2006 on SubPop and produced by Fugazi's Brendan Canty) was the record that housed such a wonderful song and boy did it get more that its fair share of spins. Fast forward a few years, change a band member or two, switch record labels and The Thermals show up again with Now We Can See, their fourth album since forming in Portland, Oregon, way back in 2002, and it's a real belter.
From the opening bars of 'When I Died' right through to closer 'You Dissolve' it's a journey of foot tapping head bobbing inducing brilliance. 'When We Were Alive' ,'Liquid In, Liquid Out' and 'I Called Out Your Name' are all stunning tunes; Hutch Harris's nerdy vocals soaring over the top of energetic honest-to-goodness instrumentation whose blueprint lies in three chord wonder, three minute timeframes and punk rock spirit.
A record about love, death and evolution never sounded so good. They're playing Dublin in June which should be prove to be a totally rocking event. To this day I can't remember what Phantom FM DJ it was that repeatedly played The Thermals, but whoever it was has my eternal gratitude for introducing me to such a wonderful band.
Trevor Meehan
www.myspace.com/thethermals
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