No Containing The Thermals

The Thermals were setting up and soundchecking and lead singer Hutch Harris decided it was time. And from that moment on, they barely came up for air. The Portland quintet blasted through a set spanning all three albums, including their latest The Body, The Blood, The Machine (Sub Pop). With most songs clocking in around three minutes, they covered a lot of ground in a short set, opening for Cursive, for whom I didn’t stick around long. Favorite songs “Here’s Your Future,” “How We Know” and “A Pillar of Salt” sounded incredible, as did the rest of the set. When you experience the energy coming from Harris, his lankiness seems to make sense. The calories were running down his neck and soaking his shirt, and that was after the third song. There’s nothing complicated about The Thermals. They are straight ahead pop-punk and quite simply one of the best bands from the Northwest. Their album is sure to be one of my favorites for the year.