The Thermals @ le Poisson Rouge

The Thermals
@ le Poisson Rouge
New York, NY - May 5, 2011

It's hard to believe it's been 7 years since I first/last saw the Thermals live, when they opened for Sleater-Kinney. It's hard to believe that the Thermals have been a going concern for over 7 years and have as many as albums as they do. It seems like only yesterday they were young punk kids turning heads. They certainly still look the part - though they do play insanely well together as should be expected after all this time. And they're still turning heads because of it.

If the tight, fierce playing wasn't enough, the fantastically named Hutch Harris drives through the vocals with an off-kilter, discordant tone that nevertheless sounds like pop finesse. My show-going buddy Jason said Hutch sounds like John Darnielle, which is practically a revelation yet also makes perfect sense. That Mountain Goats-meets-Ramones, Nirvana-meets-the Buzzcocks mix also explains how the Thermals come from the Northwest, but specifically Portland, and plant their flag as Portland's truest hard rocking band.

"A Stare Like Yours", "St. Rosa and the Swallows", and "Now We Can See", three tracks from three different Thermals albums, as played live, show a steady devotion to the band's sound but also an evolution from their wound-up punk to pop (without ever sounding like a "pop-punk" band, as that label is exampled).

7 years. Woah daddy.

Okkervil River and the Thermals on Pitchfork TV

How's Pitchfork TV doing? Not bad. Yes it's been a P-fork heavy day here at the Parthenon but it happens from time to time. Anyway, here's Okkervil River on the web network's rooftop performance show:


The Thermals doing "St. Rosa"

The Future of Music Video? Pitchfork.tv Launches In A Week

There are some real highlights to what may...may...be the biggest impact on the visual media of music since the birth of MTV:

• The Pixies documentary Loud Quiet Loud
• Jay Reatard live at the Cake Shop
• The Thermals on an NYC rooftop
• A Place to Bury Strangers live at Death by Audio, along with a tour of the premiere underground Williamsburg venue
• An interview with Robyn, the Scandinavian pop singer who was a summertime mainstream bubblegum hit ten years ago but is an Indie hipster darling now.
  

Schedule Two: Videos of the Hold Steady, St. Vincent, the Thermals, more...

Not a bad site at all, just needs some embedding features.

Tapes 'n Tapes (1 of 2)
Voxtrot
Akron/Family (1 of 2)
The Hold Steady
Asobi Seksu
Grizzly Bear
The Thermals
Andrew Bird
The Rosebuds
St. Vincent