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Mar 24, 2016 The Thermals By Ed McMenamin

Hutch Harris and crew could probably turn out new Thermals records every few years without much difficulty. It’s not a backhanded compliment; Thermals records are, by and large, pretty effortlessly consistent. You know you’ll get a cycle of smart, tightly-wound twee-punk jams. As with the run of albums following the mid-2000s classic The Body, The Blood, The Machine, there are few surprises on We Disappear, with the exception of possibly the band’s slowest number to date, the somber, introspective closer “Years in a Day.”

We Disappear‘s weak spots appear in the occasional retread “whoa-oh-whoa” pop chorus. The band is strongest in scrappy and loud moments like “Hey You.” The three-piece blares a simple garage riff, Harris establishes death and lost love as central concepts of the record—in this case running from the Grim Reaper—and the Thermals embrace resilience in the face of impending catastrophe in their singular, cathartic way. (www.thethermals.com)

Author rating: 6/10