Summer’s Coming

Celebrating more than ten years as a band, Portland, OR based indie rock group The Thermals have released their newest record, We Disappear just in time for it to be part of the soundtrack to your summer. Full of fuzz, catchy tunes and enough lo-fi haziness to compete with all the shoegaze going on these days, this record is sure to catch the attention of old fans and new listeners alike. Lots of chances to dance around with enough attitude to still call themselves punk, We Disappear is the perfect record for folks who are a little too bummed out by all the downer music coming out these days in the punk scene and just want to be able to jump up on their feet and hop around.

Cleverly titled opener “Into the Code” starts with just the right ‘woo!’ to get you ready for the fun to follow on We Disappear. Immediately guitarist and vocalist Hutch Harris’s voice will have you swooning, and that carries throughout the album especially on tracks like the slower “If We Don’t Die Today.” Even at their most low-key or their least dance-y, like with the song “In Every Way,” The Thermals are exactly the band you want to have blasting out of your stereo while lazing by the pool or while driving around with the windows down and the Spring air in your face. The highlight on the record comes when Hutch and bass player Kathy Foster come together and show what a perfect team they make, as seen on the far too short “Thinking of You.” The only problem is that you’ll probably wish that the whole record had more of these two singing together, their voices were naturally meant for each other.

Fans who have followed the Thermals since the beginning will certainly be happy with this latest offering and it will no doubt woo plenty of new fans with its deceptive cheeriness (with song titles like “The Great Dying” and “Heart Went Cold” their optimistic tone is a little unexpected) and much needed break from all the mopey, too-sarcastic-for-their-own-good releases that came out this winter. We Disappear may not be the record of the year, but it’s definitely worth plenty of listens.