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Review: Jack Foley
ARRIVING at breakneck speed - much like the formation of the
band itself - The Thermals' debut album is a fast and furious
affair, with enough flashes of brilliance to suggest that they
could be headed for great things.
Cramming 13 songs into a tight 27-minutes, The Thermals deliver
tiny shots of adrenalin which, played as a whole, sound pretty
similar, but which heard individually, bear all the hallmarks
of another US punk-pop success.
Hailing from Portland, Oregon, as apposed to New York, The Thermals
are Hutch Harris (on vocals), Kathy Foster, Jordan Hudson and
Ben Barnett (on bass, drums and guitar, respectively).
They fall into the 'classic Sub Pop' territory, boasting distorted
guitars, drums, bass, and vocals, all of which collide into short,
sharp distorted pop songs.
Compared by many to Guided by Voices, the album also evokes memories
of The Strokes, The White Stripes and even early Idlewild (particularly
during third track, No Culture Icons), which is no bad thing.
It's just that, owing to the breakneck speed at which the album
rushes by, you barely have time to take breath, or distinguish
one song from the next.
Only a handful really stand out, such as No Culture Icons,
which could easily become a successful single, and the opener,
It's Trivia, which boasts some great guitar riffs.
But too many others fall into the same routine - simple bass
and guitar chord progressions and crashes of drums and cymbals
- which seem to go nowhere fast.
The DIY sound certainly exposes the album's roots (it was originally
recorded on a four-track cassette recorder in one of the band
member's homes), making it a raw record that provides a near-perfect
insight into what the band would sound like live.
One can only wait and see what happens when they finally reach
the stage in their career when they can rely on 's.e.d.i.f.y.'
(someone else does it for you).
For now, though, More Parts Per Million marks an intriguing insight
into a band we might well be hearing a lot more from in the coming
years.
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Track listing:
1. It's trivia
2. Brace and break
3. No culture icons
4. Goddamn the light
5. Out of the old and thin
6. I know the pattern
7. Time to lose
8. My little machine
9. Overgrown overblown
10. Passion feeling
11. Back to gray
12. Born dead
13. Endless supply
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