Paste has a great interview with the Thermals, whose new album, Now We Can See, came out a couple weeks ago. I’d been meaning to write about it for a bit, mostly just to say how great it is. It not as immediately mind-blowing as The Blood, the Body, the Machine was, but I think it’s thematically/lyrically more interesting, being a death album rather than a religion/politics album. I’ve been listening to it pretty much every morning at the gym, and then again at some point during the day. So yeah, it’s good. The Thermals really have gotten to a point with me where I doubt they’ll ever disappoint.
The only thing I’ve been listening to more than Now We Can See is the Thermals’ cover of “The Ballad of Big Nothing”, an Elliott Smith cover from an ES-covers comp called To Elliott, From Portland. It’s on my Amazon Wishlist, which is now prominently displayed in my sidebar. I downloaded it from iTunes, though I realized today it was available for free on about a billion mp3 blogs. Oh well, I guess thats as good a song as any to make my.. um, sixth iTunes download. My seventh download* was also a Thermals song (yeah, I’ve been on a Thermals tear ever since their record came out)- another cover, this time Built to Spill’s “Big Dipper.” Also awesome, but I doubt you could make that song sound bad without the help of at least two members of Throttyl.
I first heard the Elliott Smith song via Pandora, which I’ve recently installed on my Blackberry, which I’ve recently decided was an awesome move. I spent all Saturday night listening to a George Jones station on Pandora that was fantastic for about 8 straight hours. Then my battery died.
Thermals are playing at the Bottom Lounge in a couple weeks- be there or be square.
*For what it’s worth, a list of iTunes downloads:
- “Porque Te Vas” by Jeanette
- “Whips and Furs” by the Vibrators
- Compact Jazz by Nina Simone (yeah, it’s an album, not just a track, but whatever.)
- The Brave and the Bold by Bonnie “Prince” Billie and Tortoise (I still want a real copy of that, though its pricey.)
- Warmth of the Sun by the Beach Boys (also an album… also, what was I thinking?)
- “Ballad of Big Nothing” by the Thermals
- “Big Dipper” by the Thermals