By Rob Thompson
The Thermals are an indispensable part of Oregon’s underground scene and having only heard one of their previous releases before, the excellent 2006 The Body, The Blood, The Machine I was unsure what to expect with this their sixth studio album LP Desperate Ground.
Had they “evolved”, dropping the determined but honest rage previously displayed?
What direction had they taken since I’d last heard them; had the no-holds-barred fury and mad juvenile oomph dissipated?
Well, this dark but exuberant release confirms that the pop-punk power-trio don’t appear to be overly concerned about variability or obscure digressions in their musical direction. What you have with Desperate Ground is a magnificent display of stubbornness: a band that has over the course of their 11-year career stuck to their post-pop-punk aesthetic.
Hutch Harris makes sure that the album has a set of very narrow and well directed themes, serving up continuity over all of the 10 tracks which are all a subtle combination of belligerence, anguish, and confrontation. Most of the songs have the same tempo and structure, lasting for only a few minutes each; this means you’re propelled through the whole album at breakneck speed. Lyrically, you could call this a concept album of sorts as the connections between each track is unambiguous: violence and the certainty of confrontation and mortality. Desperate Ground weaves a story from a single view point: a lone soldier in the darkness driven by uncontrollable impulses to annihilate and devastate. An unavoidable ceaseless struggle against natural life as he attempts to battle his way home.
Songs such as ‘Where I Stand’, ‘Howl of the Winds’ and ‘Born to Kill’ (the album opener) are typical of the punk-tinted pop that incites the listener into solemn contemplation while forcing you to triumphantly sing along. ‘Howl of the Winds’ is both stirring and abrasive as it cranks out the riffs and sequence of harmonies. These songs can be contrasted with those later in the album where the shadows fade and the excitement kicks in on tracks like ‘Where I Stand’ and ‘Our Love Survives’.
In summary, Desperate Ground starts and finishes with vigour and dynamism and has lots to offer in between. It challenges the listener to ponder the struggles in life while managing to stay ridiculously entertaining. Perhaps most importantly it retains an aura of fun and excitement; a great album from a band who have become masters of their trade.
