Strangely enough, it\u2019s possible to be a little too pretty. It\u2019s a little too orchestrated, too glossy, like a paint-by-numbers \u2013 except you can still see the numbers showing through. Every note seems perfectly calibrated to exert the maximum effect, and while it can work superficially, there\u2019s still a sense that some raw heart is lacking. That\u2019s the problem I have with The Thermals\u2019 fifth album, Personal Life<\/i>; though the album on the whole is listenable and pretty enjoyable, I feel like they could\u2019ve done more, injecting some more spunk, urgency, and personality into these ten cuts. <\/p>\n
Front man Hutch Harris is probably the most unique aspect of this outfit, although that\u2019s not always in a good way. His vocals are distinctly nasal and somewhat operatic, soaring and crisply accented, a bit like a swirl between The Mountain Goats\u2019 John Darnielle and The Decemberists\u2019 Colin Meloy. Sometimes Harris is endearingly earnest, like on opener \u201cI\u2019m Gonna Change Your Life\u201d where he howls \u201cI wanna know your feelings \/ I wanna know your shame\u2026I\u2019m gonna change your life!\u201d and as the guitars chug along behind him and the acoustics swell, you can\u2019t help but believe he\u2019ll do just that.<\/p>\n
The Thermals are at their best when their energy is high, like on \u201cI Don\u2019t Believe You\u201d with its charming \u201cwhoa oh ohhhh\u201d harmonies, Harris\u2019 call-and-response vocals, and the fiery instrumentation. Later in the album, \u201cYour Love Is So Strong\u201d resurrect that momentum, and though the lyrics are a bit vague (\u201cYour love is so strong \/ Like nothing it melts in the rain\u201d), the group comes together well on the harmonies, making this a fuzzy punk-ish ballad that wears its heart on its sleeve. Meanwhile, \u201cOnly For You\u201d is another standout, brewing some bitterness in its slow-burning instrumentation and lines like \u201cI\u2019m cut for you \/ If only to cushion your fall\u2026my love.\u201d It\u2019s this sort of sneering, slightly punk attitude that helps The Thermals hit their mark, and if the rest of Personal Life <\/i>kept up this sort of groove, it would\u2019ve been a far more resonant release.<\/p>\n
The problem is, a lot of these tracks are too interchangeable, and the songwriting leaves a bit to be desired, tossing around big themes and emotions but not rooting anything in the vivid little details that make artists like, say, The Mountain Goats so painfully relatable. And for a band whose third release was a concept album dealing with struggles to escape a totalitarian Christian regime, this batch of songs can\u2019t help but fall a bit flat in comparison. They still belt out their songs with a fancy-free enthusiasm, but it\u2019s like you can hear the band behind the scenes cobbling these cuts together, saying \u201cThis is where the epic chorus goes, this is where the hook kicks in, this is where we harmonize.\u201d It all looks good in the end \u2013 songs like \u201cNever Listen To Me\u201d and \u201cPower Lies\u201d are charmingly catchy in the moment \u2013 but end up feeling flimsy and too disposable. <\/p>\n
Not a success, but not a failure either, Personal Life <\/i>has a handful of strong cuts worth checking out. Still, The Thermals have more in them. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":48,"featured_media":30443,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[8462],"rating":[5614],"class_list":["post-42106","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-the-thermals","rating-rating-c-plus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/42106","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/48"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42106"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/42106\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30443"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42106"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=42106"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=42106"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}