The Thermals – Personal Life

September 8th, 2010 by Andrew Bailey Personal Life

Portland, Oregon outfit The Thermals went from relative obscurity to one of indie rock’s most revered artists after releasing The Body, the Blood, the Machine in 2006. Even with two other quality albums under their belts, that effort was the one that put the band on the map. Then last year they released Now We Can See. It was an album where the band squared off with expectations for the first time ever, now playing to a fanbase that had become tangible. And it represented a troubling shift to a more overproduced, nasally sound.

Personal Life, the band’s newest album, borrows more from their pre-Now We Can See days in terms of production and vocal stylings, which were the two biggest factors that buried their 2009 venture. Lead vocalist Hutch Harris seems to have recaptured most of the Craig-Finn-with-a-slight-sinus-infection vocals that worked so well for them on The Body, the Blood, the Machine, though at times he disintegrates back into the emo radio-rock sound that infected Now We Can See. The biggest saving grace and return to form on this record is its production. The Thermals sound best when they aren’t produced to a bowling ball smoothness. On this new album there’s definitely some grit, some very minor imperfections in the overall sound that lend it some personality. The simple difference in the silkiness between the two records illustrates just how important production value is to certain brands of music. Personal Life doesn’t have the most perfect of production, but it’s certainly a step back to what works back for them (even if, technically speaking, it might be considered a backwards regression).

It’s great that The Thermals have rectified the two biggest faults from Now We Can See, but Personal Life still represents the second worst piece in the band’s discography. There isn’t a lack of solid tracks — “I’m Gonna Changed Your Life”, “I Don’t Believe You”, “A Reflection”, and “You Changed My Life” — but there’s also an uninspired lull in the middle. “Your Love is So Strong” sounds like one of the most outward attempts at a single, but even that is just a clear regurgitation of Now We Can See‘s self-titled track, with the “oh-eh-ohh-ohh’s” pitch identical and everything. It’s evidently a shout-out to the band’s back catalog, but it just doesn’t feel that way. It sounds like a good sound byte rekindled for lack of a better idea.

Personal Life isn’t a bad listen, but it usually isn’t a testament to a project when its biggest successes are erasing the failures from the album that came before it. This feels like a reset button to get back to some of the stuff that worked so well on the band’s early work. It’s nice to see things headed down that familiar road, but it’s a shame that — if they really are pursuing that — they haven’t yet arrived.

- Available September 7, 2010.

Recommended: “I Don’t Believe You”

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Recommended: “You Changed My Life”

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