The American punk sometimes-trio-sometimes-duo, The Thermals have a new album coming out on Tuesday and I was gloriously endowed by the gods of rock with an advanced copy! Being a huge fan of The Thermals, I was excited, but somewhat concerned. I had no idea what to expect.
When I first heard their 2004 sophomore release 'Fuckin A' I was floored. The unbridled punk energy was exactly what I was looking for and it had the lyrical and thematic complexity to match. The strong authorial intellect conveyed the in ‘Fuckin A’ made it easy to believe their next 2 albums would be a little bit more focused and a bit more pointed. 2006’s ‘The Body, The Blood, and the Machine’ proved me right while delivering a more controlled album, interested just as much in kicking ass as telling a story. ‘Now We Can See’ followed suit in 2009. The group’s second concept album shifted from a politico-religious story to more of a personal philosophical aesthetic.
Running the gamut from a violent, angst-punk band to a sophisticated mainstay of modern music I didn’t know where ‘Personal Life’, their newest album, would land on the spectrum.
After diving in to the album and digesting as much as I could, I’m still not sure. A forlorn, unavoidable aloneness seems to permeate the beginning of the album, which might not be a surprising follow-up to albums about fleeing a failed society followed by an album about a person’s death decay and fading from existence, but the album ends with a kind of understanding or lesson learned about life and its trappings.
Thematically much more interested in a singular, personal relationship; a shift from the grand ideas of their last 2 albums and a shift towards ‘Fuckin A’, the album strikes me as a retrospect of the first youthful foray into a relationship. The thematic motif mirrors the sound of the album dwelling on the lilting adolescent delivery of “You Changed My Life” and naivety of “I’m Gonna Change Your Life”.
The teenage mentality begins to dissolve with the disappointed “Power Lies” and the hopelessly down-tone “Alone, a Fool”, but the brightness resumes with “Your Love Is So Strong” and finishes out the album. While initially seeming juvenile sapience seeps in to the latter tracks concluding with a feeling of lessons learned along the way.
From beginning to end the album follows the arc of a wide-eyed youth infatuation. To me the ability to sound mature and comfortable telling the story of juvenile awkward relationship proves exciting aptitude. It seems The Thermals are indeed easing into a sound that is undeniably The Thermals and I love it
~JM
