The Thermals Re-Ignite On Desperate Ground
By Tankboy in Arts & Entertainment on May 15, 2013 4:40PM
The Thermals new album, the aptly named Desperate Ground, sees the trio moving away from the mid-tempo punk rock of their last album and return to a more hyperdrive approach to songwriting. It's a thrashing headlong leap into, uh, desperate territory and the end effect is that the music always feels like it's trying so hard to keep up with Hutch Harris's vocal delivery. That tension creates a very real feeling that the whole affair is inches away from splintering apart. Harris's guitar blurs into Westin Glass' drumming and Kathy Foster's bass playing to create a blur of sound that feels like a constantly crashing wave just past its crest that hasn't yet slammed into the sand. You know there's doom ahead and the journey may be bursting with anxiety but the overall rush is totally worth it. And the band is smart enough to know that this can be exhausting so they wrap the whole thing up in just over twenty-six minutes. And even then your left sprawled on the ground panting as you try to catch your breath. It's awesome.
Live, the band always delivers so we're looking forward to seeing the new material onstage when they swing through this week to play Lincoln Hall.
The Thermals play Thursday, May 16, at Lincoln Hall, 2424 N Lincoln, 9 p.m., $15, 18+