It looks like The Thermals will once again be teaming up with Chris Walla, indie power-producer extraordinaire and guitarist for DCFC, for an anticipated September 2010 release on Kill Rock Stars.

Since 2002, The Thermals have consistently churned out authentic, snot-nosed, un-fussed, tri-chord punk pistols that fire with a shot from the hip kind of glory. Walla, who has previously worked with the beloved Portland-based punk rock rascals, producing Fuckin A in 2004, will be setting up camp with The Thermals at the Jackpot Recording Studio in Portand, OR.

This will be the fifth LP from The Thermals and the first with new drummer Westin Glass on board. Keeping Walla in the family means we can look forward to another classic from these bruisers.

The Thermals: website | myspace | interview | @ monolith 2009 | @ the slowdown

Wait a second…is that…sun?

Yes, the second day of Monolith saw some sun. Though I must stress “some.” Granted “some” was a significant improvement to the cold, icy rain that drizzled on concertgoers the entire day before.

Feeling encouraged by the slight appearance of sun, Monolith’s second day promised to be good.

We Were Promised Jetpacks // Woxy.com Stage @ 1:40-2:20 p.m.

I started off with Scottish group We Were Promised Jetpacks. I couldn’t decide what I liked more. Their music or their stage banter with the audience.

During a brief break in their set, a girl shouted out, “Say four,”

“Whore?” asked Adam Thompson, causing the audience to erupt with laughter. “I’m not some kind of Scottish circus freak. I can’t roll into town and say whatever you want.”

The group just released their debut this past summer and while they cite their influences as Frightened Rabbit and Twilight Sad, I’d say they have mainly the accent in common and while I like those other two bands, I think We Were Promised Jetpacks had the most enjoyable live show after seeing all three at Monolith.

“I’m going to let you in on a secret,” said Thompson near the end of their set. “This might be our only good song. We peaked.”

I wouldn’t let Thompson’s modesty fool you. All their songs are good.

Rahzel // Esurance Music Stage @ 2:30-3 p.m.

I was a bit disappointed with the arrangement of the next options at the festival. I could either see DJ rapper The Pirate Signal or hip hop artist Rahzel. These genres are not really my thing and I was disappointed that there weren’t any alternative genre options when the rest of the line up was pretty good about having variety at different stages.

I decided to sit at the top of Red Rocks and watch some of Rahzel. Rahzel, is perhaps better known either as the “beat boxing champ” or as a member of The Roots.

The first ten minutes were painful. I find having a DJ yell, “We’ve got the champ; we’ve got the champ” over and over while some other guy simply talks kind of lame. That “warm-up” part was something I could have done without.

But then, Rahzel finally showed off his beatboxing skills. First it was White Stripes‘ “Seven Nation Army” then a little Justin Timberlake and countless other popular tunes. And that was bad ass.

Neon Indian // Woxy.com Stage @ 3-3:40 p.m.

Now Neon Indian was more my speed with its synth heavy lo-fi pop. It is the project of Alan Palomo of VEGA.

Monolith was the first ever live performance of the band, but as Palomo’s bold movements and twists of the microphone cord made it look like they had been performing forever. His female bandmate on keys was a bit more timid though and I’m not sure if that was her personality or nerves.

I expect this group to blow up soon because let’s be honest…who doesn’t love the synth?

Monotonix // Southern Comfort Presents Stage @ 3-3:30 p.m.

So I didn’t intend to see any of Monotonix and then I accidentally ended up seeing too much.

After emerging from the depths of Red Rocks, I was surprised to see a large crowd huddle in front of the Southern Comfort Stage, yet no one was on stage nor did it look as though anybody had been on stage. Crews were already setting up for the next band. Yet there was some weird sort of rap rock…I’m not quite sure how to describe what was going on soundwise…coming form the middle of the croud.

Suddenly, from the depths of the crowd, a skinny, shirtless man with long hair was lifted on to the shoulders of the crowd. This was Monotonix and the people were just eating his performance up. I finally got to see him, but this is also when I saw too much of him.

It wasn’t long before he was mooning the crowd and I decided it was time to take my leave from the spectacle and check out another band.

The Dandy Warhols // Esurance Music Stage @ 3:30-4:15 p.m.

Maybe it was the singer’s stripped shirt, but there was a definite sailor swagger to the Dandy Warhols.

They seemed happy to be playing, but there was also an aloofness that made it a little difficult to connect with their live show.

The group was at their best when songs called for extra percussion effects like on “The Legend of the Last of the Outlaw Truckers.” The band sounded better and seemed happier on songs like that.

Set List:
Burned
Trucker
Junky
Good morning
I Love You
Holden Me Up
The Last High
Bono
Get Off
U2BF
Wasp
P/Boys

The Love Language // Radius Earphones Stage @ 3:40-4:20 p.m.

Looking at the stage set up for The Love Language, my first thought was that two separate bands were going to duel for the ownership of the drummer. Two keyboardists faced each other and two singers stood side by side. It was crowded for such a tiny stage.

But once I heard the band start to play, it was quite clear that something different was happening on stage. Instead of two separate bands battling for control of the drummer, siamese twins would be a better image to conjure up. The band was a single entity, but at the same time, as they switched from song to song, they showed different personalities. The Love Language are Siamese twins, not joined at the hip, but at the drummer.

Aside from walking away from this review with that weird imagery, know that soundwise, they really are the language of love. They are just happy-sounding and sweet and tons of other things that make you want to curl your toes with glee. There was a carefree nature about the music and the performance, so carefree in fact, that the band hardly flinched when all their foot-stomping knocked one of their keyboards off the stand.

Set List:
2 rabbits
providence
nocturne
blood
brittney
blue angel
sparxxx
manteo
lalita
hello mary lou

The Thermals // Southern Comfort Presents Stage @ 4-4:45 p.m.

I’ve had the privilege of seeing The Thermals before.

I just love the nasally stretch of the singers vocals, “Nooooow weee cannnn see,” the bassists growth from nonchalance to lost-in-the-moment jumping, and the unabridged enthusiasm of the constantly smiling drummer.

Yet, since I had seen them before, I regrettably had to pull myself away to catch some acts I had never seen before. Next time, Thermals. Next time.

Set List:
Return
Afraid
Future
Trivia
Let go
How Know
Call Name
Back Gray
Sick
Trip
100 %
Strosa
Pillar
Culture
We See

Bad Veins // Woxy.com Stage @ 4:20-5 p.m.

Two guys, flowery wood boxes, a big film machine and a telephone. Sounds like the beginnings to a weird sitcom, but really this was just the beginnings of Bad Veins, a duo that features a tape machine named “Irene.”

The guys and “Irene” produced a really full sound, but I’m not entirely convinced I understand the purpose of the telephone bit.

While I’m sure many in the audience inadvertently wandered in, they stayed because they group was unique and good.

HEALTH // Radius Earphones Stage @ 5-5:40 p.m.

HEALTH – OMFG.

I can’t decide if I love the festival organizers for booking some amazing bands or hate them for booking some amazing bands in ridiculously small rooms.

If you were one of the lucky few who didn’t get shut out of HEALTH’s set, you know how amazingly fortunate you were to witness them live. Each band member was all over the stage, jumping and thrashing. I’ve never seen so much energy from a electronica rock band.

If you were unfortunate enough to get shut out, get in your car and drive somewhere to see them even if that means driving to an airport.

This is a band everyone must witness once in their life.

The Twilight Sad // Woxy.com Stage @ 5:40-6:20 p.m.

The Twilight Sad rounded out the Scottish trio performing at the fest.

A schedule change moving Savoy earlier and shifting Passion Pit and Phoenix later due to a cancellation from illness in MSTRKRFT’s camp made it so I wasn’t conflicted with choosing between Twilight Sad and Passion Pit.

The set was hauntingly beautiful, but a bit of a downer. A technical hiccup in the set lightened the mood a bit as the band awkwardly stated, “Wish we knew some jokes.”

They were talented, but awkward and shy, which I suppose is fitting for their music. Plus, they had accents, and who doesn’t love a good accent.

Set List:
Doonstairs
Faster
Hit Single
Eyes Oot
Mooth
Rabbit
Sheepdng

(not typos, just how they wrote it out on the set list)

Tigercity // Radius Earphones Stage @ 6:20-7 p.m.

Tigercity was some smooth, easy-listening and I unfortunately was just too revved up to go see Passion Pit to truly enjoy this group.

It wasn’t that Tigercity was bad and they had the recipe for everything I love–synth! It was just that it was more so something that was more appealing to an older crowd that still wanted to be hip than what I’m into. Sorry Tigercity.

Set List:
Fake Gold Other Girls
Graz 75 B
Ancient Lover
Power Stripe Solitary Man
Red Lips D Water
A Better Place James
My Type
Let Her Go
?
Mallory

Passion Pit // Southern Comfort Presents Stage @ 7-7:45 p.m.

OK, again, I don’t know why the festival organizers didn’t put Passion Pit on the main stage because the entire day this was the band that I heard everybody talking about going to.

They were good the last time I saw them, but I can’t get over how much the stage presence has improved. Every band member was all over the stage, jumping off monitors and the kick drum and falling on the floor.

The crowd makes a Passion Pit set. They know all the right times to respond and sing back the vocals.

High-pitched vocals have the potential to be obnoxious, but in Passion Pit’s case, it is pure fun and add the electronica beats and you have a non-stop dance party.

I could have been content to end the night here, but some of my favorite French rockers were getting ready to take to the main stage.

Set List:
make light
i’ve got your number
let your love grow tall
little secrets
to kingdom come
better things
sleepyhead
smile upon me
…can’t remember what was played here…
the reeling.

Phoenix // Esurance Music Stage @ 7:45-9 p.m.

Phoenix has been in the music game for a long time, but it wasn’t until Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix that the States finally took notice of these French rockers.

Yes, the lyrics don’t always make sense (remember English is not their first language), but they sure sound good and are tight musicians.

Think Air with a dash of Daft Punk–this comparison shouldn’t be too hard considering all these artists are part of the Versailles scene.

Phoenix started strong with “Listzomania” and even stronger with “1901,” a song that blew audience away when performed on SNL.

My night ended with Phoenix. Sorry Mars Volta, but I had an eight hour drive that had to be completed before my roomies’ class the next day.

But it doesn’t matter. I couldn’t hope for a more perfect end than Passion Pit and Phoenix.

Set List:
Listzomania
Long Distance Call
Consolation Prizes
Lasso
…sorry, blanking on this part of the set…
Girlfriend
Rome
Too Young
1901

Monolith: website | day 1

I had never seen the Portland, Oregon band the Thermals before, but when I wandered backstage at the historic Slowdown in Omaha, and some guy with long, dark hair and a tight black shirt over a mildly plump stomach tried to introduce himself as singer Hutch Harris, I was skeptical. I glanced at the others in the green room and bassist Kathy Foster shook her head, curls bouncing. Finally, the guy laughed and admitted the truth–he was not Hutch. A bewildered Hutch emerged from a door behind me, unaware of the prank that was just played as the rest of the room joined in the laughter. This was my first experience of the band and I think it is a very true representation of their characters. Laid-back people who can find fun in almost anything whether it is death or a harmless prank. Check out the interview below:

Hutch Harris, The Thermals: Our last interview was with a preacher.
Bethany, PopWreckoning: With a preacher? Really? Like a church preacher? What sort of interview was that?
HH: Really, yeah. We were just talking about the lyrics of the last record and some of the new songs. It was cool. It wasn’t confrontational. They just really wanted to talk about the lyrics. It was for this podcast called “The World’s Most Dangerous Bible Study”, but it was one of the more interesting ones that we’ve done.
PW: Cool. But this last record was a bit more political than religious, right?
HH: The new one?
PW: Yeah. The 2006 was a bit more religious than this one.
HH: Well, there’s not so much, well there’s a little politics in it, but I don’t think it is the main theme or anything.

PW: Yeah, it’s not one of the main motifs. I read somewhere that the title track “Now We Can See” was a political song at least because you guys started in 2002 and have been a band through the entire Bush administration.
HH: I know! Oh God. It was horrible.
PW: But now there is a new President.
HH: Yeah.
PW: There’s a lot of ironic stuff in that song. With what we “should” be doing.
HH: Definitely.

PW: How do you think Obama is doing?
HH: I think he’s doing good. He is doing good so far, but it hasn’t been — it seems like every time there has been a President, within the first hundred days there isn’t too much that has really happened. It was the same for Bush. It’s cool.
I think a lot of people feel positive. Obama seems cool and really smart and realistic, you know? What do you [Foster] think?
Kathy Foster, The Thermals: Yeah, well he is already helping out people and jumped on that right away and he’s being doing a lot of good things. Yeah, it was just kind of weird timing that this record came out around the same time as Obama. It wasn’t like we had planned it or knew who was going to get elected.

PW: So what are some of the themes?
HH: Death.
PW: Ha, well you have a quote about what it was that I thought was interesting. What was that?
HH: Something about air, land and water? Death?
PW: I’ll remember it. Well, yeah, there is a lot about death, but it is also a very upbeat record.
HH: Totally.
PW: Oh, yeah, I remember the quote now. It was one of the song titles. You said this album is “songs from when we were alive”.
HH: Yeah. “Songs from When We Were Alive”. It’s the same themes that we have on a lot of records: the arrogance of people and just the violent arrogant history of humanity. A lot of songs, there are many songs told from the point of death, but through death, they’re all songs about light. It’s not, I don’t think it is…well, some lyrics are dark, but we don’t really think of it that way. We think of it more as a fun, upbeat record, but if you actually read the lyrics, it is a little dark.
PW: Just a little?
HH: Haha, well, we’re singing about death, but a lot of times it is with a real sarcastic attitude. Or it is just…
PW: You do have some rather creative ways for people to die.
HH: Totally.
PW: You’ve got death by psychosis and…
HH: Totally. Drug overdose. Drowning. Lots of water on this record. We went to the coast and wrote a lot. Kathy and I took a couple trips to the Oregon coast. And of course it rains all the time in Portland, so we got a lot of water. But it’s just like what I think are a lot of classic songwriting themes, which is death, love, water and land.

Enter drummer Westin Glass.

Westin Glass, The Thermals: What’s going on here?
HH: This is Westin; they’re from PopWreckoning.
PW: So you just made a music video for the title song, “Now We Can See”.
HH: Yeah. It’s out now. Pitchfork has it. It’s on Kill Rock Stars and it is on our Thermals YouTube page. It’s with Lance Bangs, who did our first video. He has done so many videos like Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs and Black Keys. He did the Pavement documentary. He’s done a million things.

PW: What is it like to work with him?
HH: He is great.
PW: Does he come up with the ideas then and you go with it or is it more collaborative?
HH: No, there’s always a million ideas that people have that are really complicated and make us look like asses, so we just, well I just said, “We’re just going to play in our studio. And it will be really simple. We don’t need to set up with the public and we won’t need days of shooting. Just come and film us.” So it was real kind of basic: just the band playing.
We covered our studio with posters of the Thermals and filmed in this other room in the studio we we projected our cats and other stuff in Portland and stuff like that over us. Working with Lance is great. He’s really positive and anything you want to do, he is down to do. And he works really fast. It only took like four hours or something to make the video. I don’t like spending days making a video. Videos are cool, but really, I’d rather be writing songs. You know, playing, rather than spending hours editing.

PW: On this new album, you describe your sound as post-power-pop. What exactly is that?
HH: Yeah, that was just for the press release though. Haha.
PW: Yeah, you kind of made up that genre, right?
HH: Yeah, it’s not post-power-pop in any way. It is like a power-pop. It is totally a power-pop record, I think. There’s a lot of big chords and big melodies and big drums. I think it is really melodic and catchy. So yeah, all our press material that I wr-I write it all. It’s all really snotty and very snippy and taking a piss at them. Most bands’ press kits, I think are really dull. They either kiss a band’s ass way too much or are just dull.
PW: Yeah, they all try to claim best band since Jesus.
HH: Yeah. Just whatever stupid shit. When we were at SubPop, I read a stack, they just gave me a stack of band’s one-sheets and I was like I’m going to just start writing these for us because I can make it funnier and more interesting than just like, “Here’s this band called the Thermals and they’re new album is blah blah.”

PW: Do you write other stuff for the band, too, like the Wikipedia page?
HH: Yeah, yeah. I write all the stuff for the band. It’s always like, well the iTunes bio, we’ll see what iTunes lets me get away with. Someone is going to edit it.
PW: Yeah, they can be conservative.
HH: Yeah, they’ll make it boring. But I write all that stuff, so then it fits with the attitude and set up with the band, which is basically snotty and sarcastic and full of it.

PW: You mentioned SubPop. How was the switch to Kill Rock Stars and why did you do it?
KF: We had a contract with SubPop for three records and that was up, so they gave us another one and we just wanted a contract that was one record at a time and we wanted the licenses. We didn’t want the label to own the masters. So we just decided to not work with SubPop just based on that. Hutch and I made the record and we didn’t have a label behind it. Kill Rock Stars just approached us first out of any label and they just kept in touch with us and were really aggressively excited about working with us.
PW: And they have a convenient location, too. They just moved to Portland with you guys, right?
HH: Yeah.
KF: Yeah, they moved last summer from Olympia. So great town, great vibe, so that was a big selling point, too. They were a really supportive label. And I kind of see Kill Rock Stars like how I see SubPop as kind of an iconic indie label that I grew up with. I’ve seen a lot of their releases and was excited they wanted to work with us.
HH: Yeah, they’re great. We love them so much. We loved SubPop, too. I was proud to be on SubPop, but now I’m proud to be on Kill Rock Stars.
PW: Definitely. They’re both great labels.
HH: Yeah. SubPop was massive for me when we signed to them. That was a dream. We learned so much in the five years we were on that we could be like, we’ve been on SubPop and it is OK to not be SubPop. We just wanted more control over our recordings and we decided in our heads what we wanted the contract to look and we waited to see who would give that to us. It was going to be just one record, so that we wouldn’t owe the label anything if it doesn’t go well or things go bads. Then we’d own it and we had the money to finish a record, so we finished it. We just made the whole thing and delivered a finished record to Kill Rock Stars.

PW: This question is for you, Westin. What was it like coming into the band after they had already done all this music and trying to add your own individuality to it?
WG: Well, simultaneously the most awesome thing ever, but also pretty intimidating and scary. But, these guys aren’t intimidating people at all in general.
HH: What? Haha.
WG: It was an incredible stroke of good fortune for me. I mean as for adding my own whatever, I try not to as much as possible because I feel like they’re already perfect.

PW: Good compliment. Alright back to you guys [Harris and Foster], since you are in Omaha and I have to ask, I heard–I think from the twitter today actually–but you too brought the first Bright Eyes concert ever to Portland.
HH: Yeah! So cool! It was Conor Oberst, and Ian [McElroy], his cousin, and Roger [Lewis], who is downstairs. They rolled up in a little Corolla or something. It was just the three of them in this tiny car with Roger sitting in the back next to the kick drums in the seat. Her Space Holiday, you know that band? They were friends with Bright Eyes. I think Letting Out the Happiness had just come out, but my friend Marc [Bianchi] in Her Space Holiday was like, “Hey, there’s this band called Bright Eyes that is going out on tour and can you help them find a show?” And we were like, “Sure.” It may have been a couple months before Fevers and Mirrors came out. So we put on this house show and it was so good and they were so rad.

PW: Was it at your house?
HH: No, no, I don’t remember whose house it was actually.
KF: It was at this girl’s house that kept freaking out about how loud it was.
HH: It was loud! It was so rad and so good.
KF: It was this really nice house and there were only 10-15 people there, so it was a small show. I just remember her just freaking out.
HH: We were there just listening and thinking it is just three on the set, but then Roger would just bang on the drums. And everyone just went “Oh my God” because it started out acoustic then Roger just started smashing the hell out of those drums. It was cool. Then all of a sudden we knew Omaha. They brought like whatever Faint record had just come out. They came in to Kathy’s house and was like, “You have to hear this record, this record is so good.” I don’t think it was the first record. Blank-Wave Arcade? Is that the one?
PW: Yeah, that could be right. Fasciination was the most recent one, but there’s also Wet From Birth, Blank-Wave, Danse Macabre.
HH: This was almost ten years ago. I’m almost sure it was ‘99.
WG: I bet if you asked around Portland today, it will sound more like there were 300 people there, not ten.
HH: Yeah, totally. Every one’s like, “Yeah, I was there.” But we were. And we’ve always kept in touch, but then we toured with Cursive and then we’d always see The Good Life and Bright Eyes when they came through our town. We’ve really been in touch with all the Omaha bands. Then the Faint came and stayed at my house and Azure Ray came. A couple times after that Bright Eyes came and stayed at this old house that Kathy and I lived at. There are all these different people that we knew that we started playing with. So when we toured with Cursive, Tim [Kasher] was like, “Oh yeah, I stayed at your house four years ago when I was with Bright Eyes.”
KF: They’re just all super sweet. Bright Eyes played Portland just a few years ago and Conor was talking about us putting on his first show.
HH: Yeah. Everyone from Omaha is generally rad.
PW: Yeah, it’s a good town. I like it.
HH: Yeah.

PW: OK, well speaking of cities and scenes, I usually like to ask a question about up and coming bands in a city’s scene, but since you are from Portland and a lot of people already talk about the music from there, how about something different? If somebody were to go to Portland for the first time, what local coffee shops or restaurants would you recommend?
KF: Stumptown Coffee is like the coffee giant of Portland. It is just like this independent company that started like 10 to 12 years ago with just one coffee shop in the street and now it is all over town with like three or four coffee companies on a street. But Stumptown is expanding to other towns like Seattle, San Francisco and New York. Portland is just well known for Stumptown Coffee.
HH: Yeah, really good.
KF: And I love coffee and there are a lot of coffee snobs in Portland. There are a lot of restaurants in Portland, too. Lots of good food: cafes and restaurants.
WG: And food carts!
KF: Food carts are really big.
WG: Like any kind of food you can imagine, you can get it from a cart somewhere.
PW: Just street vendors?
KF: They’re like little trailers. People have a little kitchen inside and you just walk up to a window and get what you want.
PW: OK. I’ve never been to Portland, so if I go…
WG: You got to go.
KF: Yeah, they look like little trailers. Downtown, there are whole sections of them: Mexican, Thai, Vietnamese and now it is spreading all over town. Right by my house is a waffle cart and they call them “Dutch tacos” where they make your waffle and fold it in half and wrap it so you can just eat it and walk. They have it with sausage and maple spread and cheese.
WG: And it’s sooo good.
KF: There’s this other one called Junior Ambassadors and there’s this guy who makes soup and ice cream sandwiches. Portland is well-known for organic ingredients, too, all natural. So there’s a lot of good food and there’s all different kinds.

PW: You [Glass] just moved to Portland, so what’s the coolest thing you’ve discovered since moving there?
WG: Waffle cart is up there. It is walking distance from my house, so it’s just every single day I think about going there. I mean, I don’t go there every day, but it is so good. If you had it, you would understand. The one I get there is maple spread and pecans. They just wrap it and it is so good. So what else? I go to Stumptown a lot. My roommate works at Stumptown. Too bad about Red Wing. It was a place right next to our practice space that was like a coffee shop cafe, but it is going out of business. It’s really sad.
PW: Well cool. We can call it quits, so you can get down to the stage so Shaky Hands can dedicate their set to you as promised.

The Thermals: website | myspace

For a late April show, it was uncannily cold with an eerie mist enshrouding the dark night. Once inside the venue, it didn’t take long to warm up. If the packed room with bodies inches apart didn’t do the trick, then the band’s music would get the job done. True to their name, headliners The Thermals got the people moving and made played some fun songs that even with the morbid lyrics, could warm even the most frozen human Popsicle.

Opening for the The Thermals was Point Juncture, WA, an electro-acoustic quartet helmed by a powerful female singer who also played drums, and an even more powerful backing band. Any band that throws in vibraphone is a winner in my book.

Already content with Point Juncture WA, The Shaky Hands‘ high-energy opener quickly showed that this show was only going to get better. There’s plenty to love about this band: danceable bass beats, plenty of clap-your-hands moments and a singer who’s voice who has that nasally quality loved by so many hipster, but unlike so many other hipster singers, you can actually understand what he is saying (I’m looking at you Clap Your Hands Say Yeah). Their music was ridiculously catchy, but they didn’t shy away from a few moments of experimentation. Although, even if they sounded like shit, I think there drummer still would have made me like them as he constantly bounced out of his chair and intensely banged on cymbals. Check The Shaky Hands out; these guys will probably move up to headlining soon.

When the Portland trio The Thermals took the stage, the room practically exploded into a dance party. OK, that might be a bit unfair, but a few guys definitely tried really hard to get everybody involved in a big dance party as they moshed back and forth in the front, but the indie kids of Omaha do not like to be touched and fight nearly broke out. Maybe the band couldn’t see what was going down, while they played “Now We Can See”, but the near-fight didn’t make them miss a beat. It’s probably for the best.

Touring behind the release of their new album Now We Can See, the band played a majority of songs from it, but also digged deep into the catalog for some oldies to please the diehards. As much as I love Hutch Harris and his Josh Darnielle (Mountain Goats)-esque voice and the pop chords, I must confess that some of their songs started to blend. And that is a risk when you use as many power chords as they do. Nonetheless, the heart of this band is in their lyrics and the stories within.

I must note that this tour is also a sort of debut for their drummer Westin Glass and he makes a fantastic addition to the band with his fantastic drumming and even more fantastic facial expressions. His addition also helps free bassist Kathy Foster from those duties, which I imagine makes it easier for her to do her little jumping jack move.

Check this band out both on recording and live. You will not regret it.

The Thermals: website | myspace

Kill Rock Stars will be releasing the fourth full-length by Portland’s The Thermals, after the band turned down a second contract with their former label, Seattle-baesd Sub Pop Records. Set for an April 7, 2009 release, Now We Can See will be prefaced by a 7″ and digital single of the same name, “Now We Can See”, on March 10th.

Along with the new label, the Thermals also have a new drummer. Westin Glass, who most recently played with the Seattle-based band Say Hi, will now be joining Kathy Foster and Hutch Harris. The band will showcase their new tracks and test out Glass’ chops at SXSW prior to the album’s release. Following the release date. The Thermals will be doing festivals in Europe and the U.S. all summer long, followed by a full European tour in the fall.

Tracklisting:
01. “When I Died”
02. “We Were Sick”
03. “I Let It Go”
04. “Now We Can See”
05. “At the Bottom of the Sea”
06. “When We Were Alive”
07. “I Called Out Your Name”
08. “When I Was Afraid”
09. “Liquid In, Liquid Out”
10. “How We Fade”
11. “You Dissolve”

The Thermals: website | myspace