The Thermals' criminally underappreciated concept album, The Body, The Blood, The Machine, stole directly from George Orwell's ""1984,"" tweaking things just enough to make it a clear response to the Bush administration. Three years and a president later, Now We Can See is a refreshing return to form.
Specifically, lead single ""Now We Can See"" is the inversion of their previous perspective. Instead of following the conflicted victim, ""Now We Can See"" profiles the powerful and corrupt and how our self-exaggerated nerves hold us back from better judgment and a more fruitful existence. ""Now that our vision is strong / We don't need to admit we were wrong,"" lead singer Hutch Harris sings before asserting, ""Our enemies lay dead on the ground and still we kick.""
The biggest difference between this album and older Thermals is the production. The Body featured a sharp, in-your-face, guitar-driven sound, but here the guitar blends in with the background, putting more focus on Harris' vocals. Although the production's shift of emphasis takes away from the power of some tracks, it puts ""Now We Can See"" over the top. The infectious ""oh-way-oh-oh-whoa"" hook bursts through the guitars and hand claps to become the Thermals' most accessible, luring song to date, not to mention one of their most optimistic.
Likewise, the first song, ""When I Died,"" exhibits the same guitar-intensive rock while pushing the focus on lyrics like, ""When I died, my head did swell / I said to myself, ‘Nature sure took her sweet time / I was already losing my spine.'""
The fact that they don't put all their eggs in the guitar basket makes Now We Can See a more conservative effort, which in turn makes it more accessible. As a sort of catch-22, though, the conservative and accessible guitars make this album a grower. The hooks don't forcefully grab you, they wait for you to come to them. Even when they fall short, like on the ploddingly melodic ""Liquid In, Liquid Out,"" they still manufacture enough interesting riffs to keep the listener entertained until the next song.
Now We Can See could be the first time a Thermals record hasn't bested its predecessor. Although Now We Can See lacks some of the lyrical profundity and ear-pounding guitars of The Body, The Blood, The Machine, songs like ""We Were Sick,"" ""When We Were Alive,"" ""When I Was Afraid"" and ""How We Fade"" make it a deeper, more consistent record, filling the conceptual void with an abundance of melody.
The Thermals are probably never going to receive enough critical acclaim. They're not ready to headline an MTV special or get their own rock opera, but we should be thankful. In the end, that means the Thermals won't become another Green Day, but more like another Ted Leo & the Pharmacists. And the world could always use more Ted Leo & the Pharmacists.
That dichotomy is arguably defined by purpose. Many bands only take a stab at politics because of a perceived demand for insightful opposition to the injustices in government. But today's media has far surpassed that of the '70s, so when modern bands try to recreate the Clash, they just come off as redundant, like they're force-feeding our ears partisan interpretations of what we already read on the news ticker. Instead, the demand is for a more existential depiction of humanity's plight in the nation's current state of affairs. Regardless, the Thermals are most definitely worth listening to, whether or not you care about politics.
