Wednesday, January 20, 2010

The Thermals with Past Lives



SATURDAY, APRIL 17, 2010 Manic Productions brings you:






The Thermals!!

Past Lives!!


Doors open at 7 PM – $14 ($12 advance or from Redscroll Records)

Location:
The Space
295 Treadwell Street
Hamden CT

Directions: CLICK

This is a super early heads-up so you can grab your tickets well beforehand, and pick up the new Thermals EP and the debut Past Lives LP due out on February 23.

You know The Thermals, but here's a little blurb to chew on from their page:
The Thermals have recently released their fourth and possibly best album to date, Now We Can See. After an amicable split with Sub Pop, the band has signed with the iconic Northwest label Kill Rock Stars, recently relocated to Portland, Oregon. Now We Can See was recorded by John Congleton (Explosions in the Sky, Polyphonic Spree) again at Supernatural, and at Congleton's studio Elmwood in Dallas, Texas. NWCS is full of the hi-fi power for which Congleton is famous, and continues The Thermals' tradition of raw punk energy combined with brilliant melodies and intelligent lyrics. Hutch and Kathy recorded NWCS the same way they did TBTBTM: as a duo, with Foster acting as a one-woman rhythm section for the entire record. Westin Glass joined The Thermals soon after the recording was completed, to become the fourth drummer for The Thermals, sixth if you count Harris and Foster. Please insert your own Spinal Tap joke here, thanks.

The Thermals are most famous for discovering a fourth chord in pop-punk. It's F#minor, in case you were wondering. The Thermals have also made many fine contributions to rock journalism, including the terms no-fi, some-fi, mid-fi, post-pop-punk, pre-post-punk, neo-grunge, post-power-pop, i.d.w.t.d.i.m. (i don't want to do it myself) and s.e.d.i.f.y.(somebody else does it for you).

Past Lives-the Seattle quartet consisting of Jordan Blilie, Mark Gajadhar, Morgan Henderson and Devin Welch-present Tapestry of Webs, their debut full-length release, due Feb. 23, 2010. As the summer of 2009 pooled into the fall leaves and grey wash, the group captured 12 songs with producer/engineer Steve Fisk, taking initial tracks from Seattle's Avast! studios to Fisk's home recording den for completion.

The result is an album that crawls from the primordial ooze of anti-parent culture sound to stand on newly formed legs, moving forward with carefully considered steps. Here, sibling harmonies are offered to The Wickerman death-dub, tom-toms locked in hypnotic BPM. Guitars alternate between glistening pop tones, ethereal bliss-out and raw rhythmic ruin. Throughout, each song delves deep into the blank gaze, the experience of everyday living as viewed through the tired eyes of uncertainty and doubt. It's all kinda "vibey".

The Thermals / Past Lives dates:

4.07 - Orlando, FL @ The Social
4.08 - Tallahassee, FL @ Club Downunder
4.09 - Gainesville, FL @ Rion Ballroom at University of Florida
4.10 - St. Augustine, FL @ Café Eleven
4.12 - Wilmington, NC @ Soapbox
4.13 - Carrboro, NC @ Cats Cradle
4.14 - Charlottesville, VA @ The Southern
4.15 - Philadelphia, PA @ First Unitarian Church Sanctuary
4.16 - Baltimore, MD @ Otto Bar
4.17 - Hamden, CT @ The Space
4.18 - Cambridge, MA @ Middle East
4.20 - Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Bowl

...and some other Past Lives dates:
4.22 - Princeton, NJ @ Terrace Club at Princeton University
4.23 - Columbus, OH @ Cafe Bourbon St.
4.25 - Minneapolis, MN @ 7th St. Entry

5 comments:

  1. With Past Lives and Uglysuit, just in one day you guys have posted two of the absolute worst press blurbs ever written.

    I almost can't wait for what's next.

    ReplyDelete
  2. You forgot your link: http://onebaseonanoverthrow.blogspot.com/2009/11/if-i-had-only-six-minutes-to-live-id.html

    I knew you'd give be a black eye for these.

    ReplyDelete
  3. we're all feeling kind of vibey today

    ReplyDelete
  4. "Anti-parent culture sound"! Yes, that's what I want to listen to!!

    Plus, I didn't know The Thermals invented no-fi. Wow, it's almost as if the 80's and 90's never existed.

    ReplyDelete
  5. ha! I couldn't resist adding the "neo-grunge" tag.

    ReplyDelete