Friday Fix: The Thermals, Now We Can See

The Thermals – “Now We Can See”

Quick fix this Friday, ladies and germs. Usually we like to put together a small mix of songs to get you through the weekend, but this time only one should do the trick.

I had somehow sidestepped all the hype surrounding the Thermal’s last album, The Body, The Blood, The Machine, either out of willful ignorance or obdurate resistance, but since now there isn’t much to distract me I’ve chosen to dive headfirst into their new record Now We Can See and it’s absolutely killing me. The lead single is so devastatingly simple and effective that it’s embarrassing to think so many garage bands before have managed to mess up this formula. Guitar, bass, drum, handclaps — seriously, hombres, it doesn’t take much to make me smile. With John Darnielle-like inflection and Rentals harmonies, Hutch Harris brings us an impassioned history of mankind as told through blood visions and cave drawings, and shows us arising from the sticks and the shadows to our present mess, only to clear a path back with a simple two-chord solo. I was blind, but they’ve made a believer out of me.

Was their last album this good? I think I have no choice now but to investigate.