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Portland Punks The Thermals Talk Dark April LP “Now We Can See”

The Thermals, three Fraggle rockers from Portland, Oregon, are coming back to steal your assumptions. They’re a distortion-spraying punk band that stitches the come-hither simplicity of rock anthems to the stickiness of pop hooks. They also write lyrics that take simple words and place them into complex puzzles. “We love the ’90s,” lead singer and guitarist Hutch Harris said with a wink at a recent show in Brooklyn, before launching into a Breeders cover. But don’t expect some kids simply flipping through the Alternative Nation playbook. The band broke out with 2003’s More Parts Per Million, a gob-stopping collection of fuzzed-out basement tracks, featuring the anti-manifesto manifesto “No Culture Icons.” Since then, the Thermals have released two more records, said goodbye to two drummers and switched labels from Sub Pop to Kill Rock Stars, which is set to release the band’s fourth studio album, Now We Can See, on April 7th. The band’s two constant members are Harris and bassist Kathy Foster; new drummer Westin Glass rounds out the trio just in time to tour for the new record. So how will Now We Can See compare to 2006’s The Body, The Blood, The Machine, a politically charged nightmare phantasm in which religion stomps over the state and the apocalypse marches in to a beat you can pogo to? Harris says the new LP follows up their last record, which ended in mass destruction. And while the band doesn’t consider Now We Can See a sequel, there are some Venn diagram overlaps. “We like to have a theme,” Harris says. “And for this one it was definitely death — or life looking back at death.” Don’t call them concept records, please. “I feel like a concept is something that will weigh the record down and you’re going to have to know what it is to really get into the record,” Harris says. “We want someone to just enjoy the record and the songs individually without having to buy into some story.” Does Harris consider Now We Can See a political album, like the last one? “No,

Published: 2009-03-12
Provider: Rolling Stone
Keywords: Rock News, Breaking

Shane West on Joining the Germs and “What We Do Is Secret”

After years of drama, this Friday sees the long-awaited release of What We Do Is Secret, the biopic that tracks the rise and fall of notorious Los Angeles punk icons the Germs. Formed in 1977, Darby Crash, Pat Smear, Lorna Doom and Don Bolles became notorious for loud, fast songs about sex and destruction which they played with amateurish glee at their riot-inducing live shows. In recent years, the band has seen something of a renaissance, touring occasionally with What We Do Is Secret star Shane West in place of the late Crash. “I never thought so much fun being a Germ,” West says. “But I always remember that Darby was booed off the stage a lot back in the day, too.” Click above for an exclusive clip from What We Do Is Secret. How did you end up in this role? To be honest there’s no great story. I just had an audition the meeting came through, and I jumped up and was like “really, they’re doing what?” I’m thankful it’s so independent, because otherwise I don’t think I would have had the opportunity to do it. It was difficult, but that’s what I feel when the best movies come because you’re not trying to care about foreign rights or who is getting people into the seats. You’re actually trying to make the movie good. Were you a Germs fan before, or did your research of Darby come after you got the role? The real research started to begin when I got the role. I had heard the regular set of punk bands out of the L.A. scene: Black Flag, the Germs, X. I had heard of Darby’s legend, but that’s it. I knew of “Lexicon Devil” and “Circle One.” I might have heard those two songs. Is it difficult playing somebody who actually lived? It seems it’d be hard to keep the balance between the actual facts and you’re interpretation who Darby was. I had never done it before. I think it’s gonna be different for any actor or actress who has that chance. I’m not a method actor, but I feel it’s good to be somewhat method when it has something to do with a character like that. I also feel

Published: 2008-08-06
Provider: Rolling Stone
Keywords: Rock News, Videos

Megadeth, In Flames, High On Fire Ground and Pound at Gigantour in New York

The third installment of Gigantour, Dave Mustaine’s traveling metal circus, had its first of two sold-out shows at New York’s Hammerstein Ballroom last night. Never one to blow an entrance, Mustaine opened Megadeth’s set standing alone onstage, ripping into “Sleepwalker,” the first cut from last year’s United Abominations. From then on, the order of business was to thrash as hard as possible for ninety minutes, with items on the agenda including a blistering “Take No Prisoners” and a sneer-heavy “Symphony of Destruction.” Mustaine’s ginger mop doesn’t bob as much as it used to, but his chops were still there — impressive for a guy who had to essentially re-learn his instrument five years ago after suffering nerve damage. The big revelation of the night was newly added lead guitarist Chris Broderick, who made trading shred-heavy lines with Mustaine on “Hangar 18″ seem like child’s play. And speaking of children, the 1984 mullets several attendees forced upon their spawn likely qualify as a form of child abuse. Bouncing back from a pair of albums that were light on memorable moments, Sweden’s In Flames performed a handful of vicious songs from their latest, A Sense of Purpose. Diehard fans gnashed their teeth at the dearth of pre-2000 material, but new songs “The Mirror’s Truth” and “Disconnected” featured enough bite to grab newer ears and likely won back a few of the old ones. Most attendees in the massive line missed an impressive — if unpleasantly early — set from Oakland’s High on Fire, who conjure up as much blood and thunder as Mastodon and do it with only three guys. Phoenix-based youthful Internet buzz band (7 million MySpace views!) Job for a Cowboy followed by showing off solid technical proficiency and was the night’s most straightforwardly brutal act, suggesting the band could become pretty noteworth

Published: 2008-04-23
Provider: Rolling Stone
Keywords: Rock News, Live Shows